Are Ashkenazi Jews genetically more European than Semitic?

Question

Referring to this article Surprise: Ashkenazi Jews Are Genetically European.

But a new study suggests that at least their (Ashkenazi Jews) maternal lineage may derive largely from Europe.

Though the finding may seem intuitive, it contradicts the notion that European Jews mostly descend from people who left Israel and the Middle East around 2,000 years ago

However another part of the article seems to contradict itself:

Past research found that 50 percent to 80 percent of DNA from the Ashkenazi Y chromosome, which is used to trace the male lineage, originated in the Near East, Richards said.

My question: So which is which? Is it true that Ashkenazi Jews are actually more European than Semitic genetically? Any other studies that backup or refute this claim?

Note: Just in case if you are not clear here, semitic here means "people whose ancestors are Middle East people, specifically, whose ancestors were displaced around the globe some 2000 years ago after Israel as a country was conquered by Babylonians"

Where you've asked about "Semitic" did you mean [Sephardic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews)? — Jamiec, Sep 16 '15 at 08:20
@Jamiec, no, of course not. I mean "people who descend from Jews who left Israel & Middle East some 2000 years ago" — Graviton, Sep 16 '15 at 08:35
Ok, just checking - sometimes people barely understand the differences (including me - and I'm a member of one of those clubs! ;) — Jamiec, Sep 16 '15 at 08:59
NB the article's claim is not about DNA generally, but about mitochondrial DNA specifically. Indeed, the article explicitly states that the Y-chromosome evidence goes in the other direction. — 410 gone, Sep 16 '15 at 10:02
@EnergyNumbers, would you like to expand your comment and make it into an answer? — Graviton, Sep 16 '15 at 11:41
@Graviton I commented in the hope that it would prompt you to clarify the question: it's best to align the claim you are seeking evidence on, to the actual claim made: when claims in questions here have been modified from their original source, things get very messy, and/or the questions get closed for being unclear. — 410 gone, Sep 16 '15 at 11:52
@EnergyNumbers, which part of my question is not aligned with the claim in the article? The article claims that ( as per quoted) European Jews mostly descend from people who left Israel is wrong, and I am asking whether this claim is valid — Graviton, Sep 16 '15 at 11:59
@Graviton your claim is "is it true that Ashkenazi Jews are actually more European than Semitic genetically". Whereas the article's claim is that the mitochondrial DNA of Ashkenazi Jews is 80% European, and that 50-80% of the Y-chromosome originated in the Near East. — 410 gone, Sep 16 '15 at 13:42
@EnergyNumbers, so, combining these two evidence, where does that point us to? I'll update the question to make it clearer — Graviton, Sep 17 '15 at 00:11
@Graviton the answer to that question is, as with your other questions, in the very article you've cited: Maternal line near-eastern, paternal line european. But what is the actual claim you are sceptical of? — 410 gone, Sep 17 '15 at 07:57
@EnergyNumbers, can this make sense? And is it backup by other publication? — Graviton, Sep 17 '15 at 09:53

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 18 '15 at 09:12

Per Shai Carmi et.al. in 2014, "Ashkenazi Jews have an even admixture of European and Middle Eastern origins."

Modelling of ancient histories for AJ and European populations using their joint allele frequency spectrum determines AJ to be an even admixture of European and likely Middle Eastern origins. We date the split between the two ancestral populations to ≈12–25 Kyr, suggesting a predominantly Near Eastern source for the repopulation of Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum.

Are Ashkenazi Jews genetically more European than Semitic?

1 Answers1