The question of whether Arabs and Jews are related involves examining historical narrative, linguistics, and genetic ancestry. Scientific evidence reveals connections across all these domains, pointing to a shared deep history in the Near East. While both groups have a common origin, two millennia of distinct migrations, cultural practices, and geographical separation have created the unique populations known today.
The Common Semitic Linguistic Heritage
The linguistic connection between Hebrew and Arabic stems from their shared membership in the Semitic language family, a branch of the larger Afroasiatic phylum. Both languages descended from Proto-Semitic, a common ancestor spoken thousands of years ago in the Near East. They share the system of triconsonantal roots, where the core meaning of a word is embedded in three consonants, and vowels or affixes modify that meaning.
This shared structural foundation results in a high number of cognates—words similar in sound and meaning derived from the same root. For example, the Hebrew word shalom and the Arabic word salam both mean “peace” and come from the ancient root S-L-M. Similarly, the words for “father” (ab in both) and “earth” (erets in Hebrew, ard in Arabic) demonstrate this kinship. Although the languages have diverged, their shared grammar and vocabulary structure provide a clear link to a common linguistic origin.
Shared Foundations in Historical Narrative
Both Arab and Jewish peoples share a foundational narrative centered on the figure of Abraham. This shared heritage is why Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are collectively referred to as the Abrahamic religions. Both traditions revere Abraham as a patriarch who made a covenant with God and is considered the progenitor of their respective peoples.
Traditional accounts state that Abraham had two sons who are considered the ancestors of the two groups. Jewish tradition traces its lineage through Isaac, while Arab traditions trace theirs through Ishmael. This narrative establishes a common origin point in the ancient Near East that precedes the formation of their distinct religious and national identities. The reverence for Abraham, or Ibrahim, remains a deeply embedded cultural link.
Genetic Evidence Confirming Deep Roots
Population genetics confirms the deep biological relatedness between the two groups, particularly those originating in the Levant. Studies analyzing Y-chromosome haplogroups, which trace paternal lineages, show significant overlap between Jewish populations and Levantine Arabs, including Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. These groups share high frequencies of specific Near Eastern haplogroups, such as J and E, suggesting a common ancestral gene pool thousands of years old.
Genome-wide analyses using autosomal DNA indicate that modern Jewish and Arabic-speaking communities derive at least 50% of their ancestry from the Bronze Age inhabitants of the Southern Levant, often referred to as the Canaanites. This shared genetic signature points to a common ancient population that preceded the religious and cultural splits. Genetic proximity remains strong enough that Jewish communities often cluster closer to local Arab populations than to non-Middle Eastern host populations.
How Modern Populations Diverged
Despite the deep shared ancestry, the historical trajectories of Jewish and Arab populations led to significant divergence over the last two millennia. The Jewish Diaspora, following the Roman conquest of Judea, scattered Jewish communities across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, leading to genetic isolation and bottleneck effects. This isolation resulted in distinct genetic profiles among different Jewish groups, such as Ashkenazi Jews, who show varying degrees of gene flow from European populations while maintaining their Middle Eastern core ancestry.
Arab populations experienced different patterns of gene flow, primarily through the expansion of Islam beginning in the 7th century CE. This expansion spread Arabic language and culture, resulting in the acculturation of diverse peoples across North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. While Levantine Arabs maintained strong genetic continuity with ancient local inhabitants, other Arab groups integrated genetic material from surrounding populations. This combination of geographic separation, cultural isolation, and different gene exchange patterns created the distinct modern populations observed today.