Around 250 members of the Bnei Menashe community from northeast India have arrived in Israel, marking the first group to relocate under a government-backed initiative announced last year to bring remaining members of the group to the Jewish state.
The group, which hails from parts of Manipur and Mizoram, landed on Thursday as part of a broader plan unveiled in November to facilitate the immigration of thousands more over the next five years.
The Bnei Menashe claim descent from the biblical tribe of Manasseh and have been migrating to Israel since the 1990s. About 4,000 community members have already settled in Israel over the past three decades, while nearly 6,000 are still awaiting relocation.
At the airport, the new arrivals were welcomed with celebrations by members of the community already living in Israel, as men wore traditional hand-knitted kippas and women donned customary head coverings.
Under the programme, dubbed “Operation Wings of Dawn,” Israel plans to bring another 1,200 members of the community during 2026. Two additional flights are scheduled in the coming weeks, according to the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, which oversees immigrant support services including housing, employment assistance and cultural integration.
The relocation effort is expected to cost around 90 million shekels, covering flights, conversion classes, housing, Hebrew lessons and other benefits.
The process is being coordinated by the Jewish Agency for Israel in collaboration with multiple Israeli authorities, including the Chief Rabbinate and the Population and Immigration Authority.
The community’s Jewish identity has been debated for years, but in 2005, Shlomo Amar recognised them as “descendants of Israel,” enabling their immigration pathway.
The Bnei Menashe trace their lineage to one of the ten lost tribes exiled by the Assyrians over 2,700 years ago. Their oral history recounts a long migration through regions such as Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China, while maintaining certain Jewish practices.
Many were later converted to Christianity by missionaries in India, and under current rules, they are required to undergo formal conversion before being granted Israeli citizenship.
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