Sephardic Haredim to support its position. Sephardic Haredim differ from their Ashkenazi counterparts in a number of significant ways. The central differentiating factor is that Sephardic Haredim follow the rulings and customs of their rabbis, which are rooted in the traditions of the Jews formerly from the Islamic world. Additional differences exist on issues such as political allegiance, as the vast majority of Sephardic Haredim are identified with Shas, while most Ashkenazi Haredim are identified with either United Torah Judaism or, to a lesser extent, HaEdah HaChareidis. Sephardic Haredim as a community tend to be moderately supportive of Zionism, while maintaining a
Sephardic Bnei Anusim Jews during the 15th century. Surnames known to have been carried by Jews included Pérez, López, Salazar, Córdova, Torres, Castro, Álvarez, González, Gómez, Fernández. It is extremely important to note, however, that all of these mentioned surnames, and almost all other surnames which were carried by 15th century Sephardim, were never specifically Jewish in origin, that is, they were never exclusively "Sephardic surnames", if such a thing exists other than in the most rarest and limited of cases. Almost all these surnames are in fact surnames of gentile Spanish origin (or gentile Portuguese origin) which only became common among Sephardic