Sephardi Jews other, based upon such features as physical traits and culture. In some instances, Sephardi Jews have joined Ashkenazi communities, and have intermarried. Sephardic Jews are genetically related closely to their Ashkenazi Jewish counterparts as both diverged from the same cluster of ancient Iraqi and Iranian Jews approximately 2,500 years ago. Due to their origin in the Mediterranean basin, there is a higher incidence of certain hereditary diseases and inherited disorders in Sephardi Jews. However, there are no specifically Sephardic genetic diseases, since the diseases in this group are not common to Sephardic Jews in general, but are instead common in
Racism in Israel where Sephardi and Mizrahi students were sometimes excluded or segregated. In 2010, the Israeli supreme court sent a strong message against discrimination in a case involving the Slonim Hassidic sect of the Ashkenazi, ruling that segregation between Ashkenazi and Sephardi students in a school is illegal. They argue that they seek "to maintain an equal level of religiosity, not from racism". Responding to the charges, the Slonim Haredim invited Sephardi girls to school, and added in a statement: "All along, we said it's not about race, but the High Court went out against our rabbis, and therefore we went to