OTOH, the Jews were able to develop despite being generally persecuted for the past 2,000 years.
Unless 2,000 years is too short a time to make much evolutionary difference.
Yes, we should not overestimate group selection. But it is probably one factor that explains why we are the way that we are.
You are quite right. The Jews are the obvious exception. But I know of no other ethnic group, at least not one that is widely distributed, that is identifiable from 3000 years ago.
There is obviously more than one possible evolutionary strategy. The Jews have for the last 2000 years followed a different one.
It should be noted that if a certain war 70 years ago had gone the other way, the Jews’ evolutionary strategy would have probably utterly failed by now.
The higher IQ of Ashkenazi Jews is widely attributed to evolutionary pressure selecting for intelligence of the bookish type, which didn’t operate very strongly in other societies.
It might be noted that in modern western societies, evolutionary pressures are apparently operating to select for lower IQ, lesser socio-economic success, etc. For the very first time in history, there is an inverse relationship between reproductive success and general success in life.