For an explanation why Carlson is probably crazy, see the post:
For an explanation about the equation of Islam with Idolatry see what I wrote in the post: The Avoda Zara Worshipers of Iran Are Currently Suffering From an Intense Drought. Let’s Get Things Right This Time and Pray for their Downfall.
What did Carlson actually say?
According to a recent post on Twitter/X by Ambassador Mike Huckabee:
When I sat down with Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, I was expecting a thoughtful conversation and that he would ask questions and give me the opportunity to actually respond–just like he did with the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy. What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible. I’ll first just say something I didn’t think to say to Tucker, which is that Ashkenazi Jews, meaning those who families had spent centuries in Europe, are a minority of Israel’s Jewish population, only maybe 35-40%. There are far more Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews inside Israel. But there’s a good reason, as it turns out, that I had never encountered this theory that Tucker kept pushing on. That’s because it comes from some of the darkest realms of the Internet and social media. I think it’s important to take a moment now and educate Tucker and anyone else who might get sucked in by this dangerous conspiracy theory, just as I have been educated this week. I’m sharing this information because it has been weaponized by very bad people to delegitimize Jews and strip them of their history. It’s an idea that gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis. It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt anti-Semites and Jew haters you can find. I don’t know why Tucker was so fixated on this, and I’m certainly not saying he knew the origins of this conspiracy theory. I don’t know what’s in his heart or what he was thinking. But I do know that the discredited idea that most Ashkenazi or European Jews descended from the ancient Turkic kingdom of Khazaria is bunk. It’s also been weaponized by people trying to deligitimize Jews, to strip them of their history, and to call them “imposters” or “fake Jews.” This odious conspiracy theory is peddled by the likes of Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes and by people who love David Duke, as well as Islamist accounts that make up false smears about Israel non-stop and are run out of countries like Pakistan and Turkey. But we know from genetics and rich volumes of written literature that the Jews of today can trace their lineage back thousands of years to the Israel and the Jewish people of the Bible. They are as connected together as genetics tell us that the ancient Khazar kingdom is to people living today in Turkey.
The Genetic Argument – A Gemini AI Summary
This is a fascinating summary of how modern genomics has turned historical assumptions on their head. For decades, scientists believed 2,000 years of migration would have “erased” a distinct Jewish genetic signature. The data proved the exact opposite.
Here is a user-friendly breakdown of the key discoveries from the transcript.
- The “Impossible” Genetic Signature
The most shocking finding was the preservation of DNA rather than its erosion.
- 100% Accuracy: Modern computer algorithms can distinguish Jewish individuals from non-Jewish Europeans with perfect accuracy across hundreds of samples.
- The Cluster: Whether from Morocco, Russia, or Iraq, Jewish populations are genetically closer to each other than to the neighbors they lived alongside for centuries.
- The “350” Bottleneck
Perhaps the most incredible number in the study is 350.
- The Foundation: Genetic sequencing of the Ashkenazi population (now over 10 million people) revealed they all descend from a founding group of just 330 to 350 individuals.
- The Timeline: This “bottleneck” occurred roughly 700 to 800 years ago in Medieval Europe.
- The “30th Cousin” Rule: Because the starting group was so small, almost all Ashkenazi Jews are effectively 30th cousins. This explains why certain genetic diseases (like Tay-Sachs) are more prevalent in this group—they are legacies of that tiny original population.
- The Cohen Connection (The “Priestly Gene”)
A kidney specialist named Karl Skorecki wondered if the oral tradition of the Cohanim (the priestly class) could be proven.
- The Test: He compared the Y-chromosomes (passed father-to-son) of Ashkenazi and Sephardic priests.
- The Result: Despite being separated by thousands of miles for a millennium, roughly 50% of priests shared a specific genetic marker called the Cohen Modal Haplotype.
- The Age: This marker dates back approximately 3,200 years, aligning with the biblical era of the Exodus.
- The Lemba Tribe Mystery
The DNA search extended to the Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa, who claimed Jewish ancestry despite looking Bantu.
- Oral Tradition vs. Science: They avoided pork and practiced circumcision, claiming their ancestors came from the north.
- The Proof: Genetic testing showed that the “Buba” clan (their leadership family) carries the Cohen Modal Haplotype at a rate of 50%—a higher frequency than is found in the general Jewish population worldwide.
- Summary of Origins
While the science is still debated (specifically regarding how much European DNA comes from the maternal side), the overall architecture is clear:
- Middle Eastern Core: Virtually all major Jewish groups share a detectable Middle Eastern genetic core.
- Endogamy: The cultural practice of marrying within the faith acted as a “biological seal,” preserving an ancient Levant signature through 2,000 years of exile.
| Group | Connection Found? | Key Evidence |
| Ashkenazi | Yes | 350-person bottleneck; Middle Eastern/Southern European mix. |
| Sephardic | Yes | Strong clusters with other Jewish groups; Cohen markers. |
| Lemba | Yes | High frequency of the Cohen Modal Haplotype. |
| Khazar Theory | No | Almost no genomic support for a primary Central Asian origin. |
The Khazar Empire according to Wikipedia
More from Gemini AI Debunking the Khazar Theory
The Khazar Theory (or Khazar Hypothesis) suggests that Ashkenazi Jews are primarily descended from the Khazars, a confederation of Turkic peoples in the Caucasus who reportedly converted to Judaism in the 8th or 9th century.
While this theory gained popularity in the mid-20th century (notably in Arthur Koestler’s The Thirteenth Tribe), modern genomic science has largely dismantled it. Here are the specific scientific and historical details that work against the theory:
- The “Levantine” Genetic Anchor
If the Khazar theory were true, Ashkenazi DNA should cluster with populations from the Caucasus (like Georgians, Armenians, or Dagestanis) or Central Asian Turkic groups.
- The Reality: Genome-wide studies (such as those by Behar et al. and Atzmon et al.) consistently show that Ashkenazi Jews cluster most closely with other Jewish groups (Sephardi, Mizrahi) and Levantine populations (Palestinians, Druze, Lebanese).
- The “Southern European” Admixture: Ashkenazi DNA also shows a significant “Mediterranean” or Southern European component (Italian/Greek), likely from the Roman era, which is absent in the Turkic-Khazar profile.
- Lack of “Altaic” or Turkic Markers
Geneticists look for specific haplogroups (paternal and maternal lineages) that act as “biological signatures” for specific regions.
- Turkic Markers: Populations originating from the Khazar region typically carry high frequencies of East Asian or Siberian genetic markers (related to the Altaic language family).
- The Missing Signal: These specific Turkic markers are virtually non-existent in the Ashkenazi gene pool. Instead, the paternal lineages (Y-DNA) are overwhelmingly J and E haplogroups, which are classic Middle Eastern signatures.
- The “350” Bottleneck vs. A Massive Empire
The Khazar Empire was a vast, multi-ethnic superpower. If a mass conversion and migration had occurred:
- Genetic Diversity: You would expect to see a very high level of genetic diversity reflecting a large, diverse empire.
- The Bottleneck: As mentioned in the transcript, the Ashkenazi population traces back to a tiny group of just 350 people in the 12th–14th centuries. This “narrowing” points to a small, migrating community from the West (the Rhineland), not a massive influx of people from a collapsed Eastern empire.
- Linguistic Evidence (Yiddish)
Proponents of the Khazar theory often struggled to explain why Ashkenazi Jews spoke Yiddish (a Germanic-based language) rather than a Turkic or Slavic-influenced tongue.
- Linguistic Mapping: Philological studies show that Yiddish contains almost no Turkic loanwords. It is rooted in High German with Hebrew and Aramaic infusions, consistent with a migration path through Italy and France into Germany.
Summary Table: Khazar Theory vs. Genetic Findings
| Feature | Khazar Theory Prediction | Actual Genetic Finding |
| Primary Ancestry | Caucasus / Central Asia (Turkic) | Middle Eastern / Southern European |
| Closest Relatives | Georgians, Armenians, Kazakhs | Sephardic Jews, Palestinians, Druze |
| Paternal Lineage | Central Asian Haplogroups | Levantine Haplogroups (J1, J2, E) |
| Founder Effect | Broad, imperial diversity | Narrow “350-person” bottleneck |
Article by Shlomo Moshe Scheinman.
I wish to make it clear that given the assimilation of the Lemba tribe mentioned in the study, I do not wish at this point in time to bring them to Israel. When they become Orthodox Jews, I might change my viewpoint. The Youtube video on Genetics entitled “What DNA Revealed About Jewish DNA That Nobody Can Explain” brought up the issue of the Lemba, so the Gemini AI summary also raised that issue.
Addition #2: Ambassador Mike Huckabee also made a reference to the J-man in his post, which was not quoted here. For our attitude about the J-man, see: Mike Huckabee & Friends Are Trying to Convert Jews to Follow the J-Man – Here is an Anti-Missionary Response
Addition #3: See the Biblical book of Yechezkel 47:22 that tells us that converts to Judaism also have a connection to the land of Israel.
Addition #4: The full spiritual destiny of Israel as a “kingdom of priests and a holy people”, and as a “light unto the nations”, can only be realized through their providing an example of a complete nation living in their own land, a unique monarchy having a Temple, priests, judges and policemen. They must possess a special, Torah-based way of life including such precepts as the fallow year, Jubilee year, etc. (page 30, from the book “Judaism” by Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail)