About 250 members of an Indian community from the north-east arrived in Israel recently, becoming the first batch of the community to do so, with many more expected to follow in the coming weeks.
Called the Bnei Menashe, the Jewish community has long resided in India’s Northeast, largely in Manipur and Mizoram. Their arrival in Tel Aviv is part of Israel’s broad efforts to bring the Jewish community home under ‘Operation Wings of Dawn’, announced in November 2025.
While 250 members have arrived in Israel, about 1,200 more are expected to arrive by the end of this year, according to a Jerusalem Post report.
Who are the Bnei Manashe?
Tucked away in some parts of the Manipur and Mizoram for years now, the Jewish community claims association with the Menashe tribe, one of the 10 tribes pushed into exile some 2,800 years ago.
According to a New York Times report, about 10,000 people from the community live in the Northeast and teach their children about the importance of their religion and how their ancestors wandered from the ancient Middle East across Asia.
“We have good faith in the Israeli government. They promised that all the B’nei Menashe will go to Israel by 2030,” Shimon Ngamthenlal, a member of the community, was quoted as saying by the publication.
The Bnei Manashe community reportedly has a history of moving through ersia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China, while continuing to follow Jewish religious practices. Missionaries in India converted them to Christianity and as they make their way to Israel to be on a land of Jews, they would have to convert again to become citizens, per a PTI news agency report.
Since the 1990s, nearly half of the community has immigrated to Israel and about 6,000 are still waiting.
Why does Israel want the Indian community?
In 2025, the Israeli government announced a program – Operation ‘Wings of Dawn’, to facilate the immigration of the remaining members of the Jewish community. For the community’s relocation, the Israeli government has stipulated as cost of about $30 million, which includes their flights, their conversion classes, housing, Hebrew lessons, and other special benefits.
As stated in an NYT report, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu feels that the funding is “an important and Zionist decision that will also strengthen the North and Galilee” regions of Israel.
The Bnei Manashe community in India is highly in connect with their religion. “We follow Judaism, and here we cannot follow all our customs,” Benjamin Haokip, a member of the community in Manipur told NYT. “We want to go to Israel for our religion,” he said.
Operation ‘Wings of Dawn’ is reportedly a joint initiative led by the Aliyah and Integration Ministry and the Jewish Agency for Israel. While the first flight of the Bnei Manashe members landed in Tel Aviv recently, two additional flights are scheduled in the next two weeks, according to the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, as stated in the PTI report.
The newcomers received a rousing welcome in Tel Aviv as members already present in the country cheered for them, and they walked down a red carpet wearing traditional clothing.
“We are making history as we bring the entire Bnei Menashe community to Israel… There is no more fitting and moving time to welcome a plane full of olim than right after the State’s 78th Independence Day. Welcome home,” Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer was quoted as saying in a Jerusalem Post report.
‘Aliyah’ is the term used to describe the immigration of Jewish people to Israel and a group that makes the transition is called ‘Olim’.
