250 Indians Have Moved To Israel As Part Of Israel’s Plan For Thousands More To Migrate To The Country
Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer, greeting arrivals at the airport, called it "a historic moment."
More than 250 people from the Bnei Menashe community in northeast India, who claim they are part of a biblical lost tribe of Israel, have arrived in Israel as part of an Israeli immigration operation.
The Bnei Menashe, or "Sons of Manasseh," is a minority community from Manipur and Mizoram who claim their lineage traces back to one of the biblical 10 Lost Tribes expelled by the Assyrian Empire around 720 BC.
Their ancestors migrated through Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China before settling in India's far northeast.
British missionaries converted the community to Christianity in the 19th century.
For nearly three years, ethnic clashes between the Hindu Meitei majority and the largely Christian Kuki community have killed more than 250 people, with the Bnei Menash caught in the middle of the fighting, according to AFP.
Since the 1990s, about 4,000 Bnei Menashe have migrated to Israel, with roughly 7,000 still in India, according to Arab News.
In November 2025, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government approved “Operation Wings of Dawn,” a state-funded operation targeting the full relocation of the remaining community by 2030, at 1,200 people per year.
On Thursday, April 23, 250 people from the Bnei Menashe community arrived at Ben Gurion Airport.
The group is the first of three scheduled flights over the coming weeks.
They are set to settle in absorption centers in Nof HaGalil and Kiryat Yam in northern Israel, and must convert to Judaism before qualifying for citizenship under Israel's Law of Return, the law that grants any Jewish person the right to immigrate, according to TRT World.
Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer, greeting arrivals at the airport, called it "a historic moment."
Since the 1990s, about 4,000 Bnei Menashe have migrated to Israel already made the trip, with roughly 7,000 still in India, according to Arab News.
However, analysts say Jewish immigration has declined by 18% since April 2025, with about 82,000 Israelis leaving the country in 2024 due to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
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