I would like to offer a further analysis on Israeli Ashkenazis. Residents of Israel are about 40% European Jews, 40% Sephardim Jews (believed to be IQ 88) and 20% Arabs (if the IQ of the Israeli Arabs it is the same as in most Arab countries then it is 83). Based on this we can calculate the Israeli Ashkenazi IQ:

20% Arabs at 83 --> total IQ share of population = 20*83/100 
40% Sephardim's at 88 --> total IQ share of population = 40*88/100 
40% Ashkenazi's at x points --> total IQ share of population = 40*x/100 
(20*83+40*88+x*40)/100=94
2*83+4*88+x*4=940
x=( 940-2*83-4*88)/4

So the IQ of Israeli Ashkenazi's is= x=211/2 = 105.5 Strangely low...

Let's go the other way and assume that Israeli Ashkenazis are about as smart as the European Jews. Let's x stands for the average IQ of the Arabs and the Arabic Jews. The total percentage of Arabs and Sephardim's is 60, their total share of IQ is 60x, the Ashkenazi's is 115x.

(60*x+115*40)/100=94
6*x+115*4=940
x=(940-4*115)/6

The average IQ of Arabs and Sephardims = x=80 That it seems impossibly low, because the Israeli Arabs are not likely to be less intelligent than Egyptian Arabs.

Three conclusions are possible: 
1. Either the European Jews lost their intelligence after migrating to Israel, 
2. or that the Jews who went to Israel had lower IQ than the average (I personally don't think that this was the case) 
3. The study was faulty

For the sake of the analysis let's assume that the European Jews who immigrated to Israel had a lower average IQ then the Jews who went to America. If this were true, then: a.) Israeli Jews would have lower IQ than the European Jews, and b.) the American Jews would have higher IQ than European Jews. While the first part of this conjecture appears to be supported by the test results, the second part is not. -- According to available test results, American Jews score on average 112, which is lower then European Jews.

I consider this to be a strong proof for: a.) The Ashkenazi's who went to Israel did not have lower IQ than the rest of European Jews, and b.) The lower IQ of Israeli Ashkenazi's is caused by non-genetic factors.

Sloan replies: Veet, thank you for your Israeli IQ computations. I don't think that either of your results is "strangely low." Perhaps reality in Israel is a blend of your two calculations. The available IQ data on American and European Jews is too sketchy to draw "solid proof" conclusions. And I believe the Holocaust killed so many Jews that we cannot project the IQ's of those who survived in Europe. On the predominantly genetic basis of IQ, check out the comments of a leading expert on intelligence: Harvard's Howard Gardner. Click for additional, related emails between Veet and Sloan Jan 2-4, 2005

Russian chat room comment 1/05 The average IQ Jewish Americans is 115
So why do not Israeli Ashkenazis average 115 too? I am afraid that the obvious explanation is that it was mainly the foolish (idealistic?) Jews of European origin who have ended up in Israel. The smart ones are in New York.

An Israel resident offers another explanation for the US vs Israel IQ difference: that many non - Eastern Europeans are counted as Ashkenazis in Israel.

Comments to: VanSloan@yahoo.com