By way of an article in the Times of Israel I read once they are of their own admission Ashkenazi -- descended of Ashkenoz, grandson of Japeth (Noah's third son) and not of Shem (the Abrahamic line). We get "Sem" from the Greek due to the lack of the letter "H". So no, modern Israel is not "Semetic."
Could you post a link?
The Times article was several years ago. The bit about Ashkenoz is in Genesis. A good Summary of the Abrahamic line can be found in Matthew Chapter 1 and Like Chapter 3.
So, my current understanding is that Ashkenaz was a decendent of Gomer, who was an descendant of Japheth, who was a descendant of Noah.
But that would put him as some sort of Great-Great-Grand Uncle to Abram/Abraham, and clearly not subject to any covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants, because anyone descended from Ashkenaz was clearly not descended from Abraham.
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So the question is, where do Ashkenazi Jews claim to be descended from Ashkenoz?
Because if they are descended from Ashkenoz, that wouldn't actually be Jews/Israelites at all, since they clearly aren't descended from Abraham, and wouldn't have the covenant with God, at least not the one that promised them Israel...