
Israel Welcomes First Immigrants from India’s Bnei Menashe Community
Israel has begun welcoming the first members of India’s Bnei Menashe community under a sweeping plan to bring the entire population home. At a ceremony on Thursday, June 11, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that the nation would “bring the entire community to Israel over the next four years.” Roughly 600 Bnei Menashe immigrants from northeastern India have already settled in Israel since the start of the year, with another 600 expected to arrive by the end of 2026.
The government has approved a proposal from the Aliyah and Integration Minister to bring the whole 6,000-person community, which currently lives in the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, to Israel over about five years. “I am thrilled to see the Bnei Menashe returning home,” Netanyahu told the new arrivals. “You are an inseparable part of the Jewish People, and Israel is your home. I wish you a successful absorption and great success in the Galilee and in Nof Hagalil. Welcome back home to the State of Israel.”
Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer called it “deeply moving” to witness immigrants realizing a long-held dream, and announced the opening of the Tavor absorption center, which will help newcomers learn Hebrew, enter the education system and job market, and build homes in cooperation with the Jewish Agency and the city of Nof Hagalil. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described the moment as “clear evidence of the fulfillment of the prophetic vision of the Return to Zion in our generation,” assuring the community that Israel would continue to stand by their side.
(JPost/VFI News)
“I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth.” – Isaiah 43:6