250 Indian Jews from the Northeast arrive in Israel; 1,200 more by end of 2026

They are the first Bnei Menashe to arrive in Israel on Thursday since funding was announced in November for thousands of community members waiting to immigrate to Israel over the next five years.

The Bnei Menashe community, which lives in parts of Manipur and Mizoram states and claims to be descendants of the biblical tribe of Manasseh, has been slowly making its way into Israel since the 1990s.

According to reports, approximately 4,000 community members have immigrated to Israel over the past three decades, and approximately 6,000 more are waiting.

Members of the community already living in Israel greeted the newcomers with loud cheers at the airport Thursday night as the men among the newcomers walked out on the red carpet wearing traditional handwoven kippa and the women donned customary headscarves.

The Israeli government plans to transport an additional 1,200 people from the community in 2026 as part of Operation Dawn Wings.

Two more flights will be added in the next two weeks, according to the Ministry of Return and Integration, which provides assistance to immigrants and returning residents, develops policies and procedures, allocates budget assistance to immigrants and provides specialized services in housing, employment and culture.

The ministry said the entire relocation plan is expected to require a budget of 90 million shekels to cover the migrants’ flight costs, cabin transfers, housing, Hebrew classes and other special benefits.

The process is managed by the Jewish Agency in coordination with the Chief Rabbinate, the Conversion Agency, the Ministry of Return and Integration, the Bureau of Population and Immigration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Israeli government departments.

There had been heated debate over the Bnei Menashe’s Jewish identity in the past, but in 2005, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, then chief rabbi of the Sephardic community, paved the way for their immigration by recognizing them as “descendants of Israel.”

The community claims to belong to the Menashe tribe, one of 10 tribes exiled by the Assyrians some 2,700 years ago.

Oral histories of the Bunimenash tell of a centuries-long exile through Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet, and China, all the while adhering to certain Jewish religious practices, such as circumcision.

According to the Jewish Agency, missionaries in India converted them to Christianity and they had to undergo a conversion process to become citizens of Israel.

This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.