Who Are The Bnei Menashe? Northeast India Community That Claims To Be Israel’s ‘Lost Tribe’

Final Updated:April 24, 2026, 19:54 IST

The Bnei Menashe, meaning “Sons of Manasseh,” recount they designate their ancestry to the favored tribe of Manasseh, in reality appropriate one of many Assyrian exile of the Ten Lost Tribes.

Round 240 other folks from India’s northeast landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as allotment of a dispute-backed programme to raise people of the Bnei Menashe community to Israel.

The arrivals are allotment of a broader Israeli belief current in November remaining year to facilitate the immigration of spherical 6,000 people of the community from the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram.

ALSO READ: ‘Operation Wings Of Damage of day’: Israel Plans Unusual Relocation Of This Community From Northeast India

Who Are The Bnei Menashe?

The Bnei Menashe, meaning “Sons of Manasseh,” say they trace their ancestry to the ancient tribe of Manasseh, one of the Assyrian exile of the Ten Lost Tribes, when the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered and populations were dispersed.

According to their oral traditions, the community migrated over centuries through regions including Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China, preserving certain religious customs along the way.

Today, they are largely associated with the Kuki people of northeast India and speak Tibeto-Burman languages. Many Kukis converted to Christianity during the colonial period, but renewed interest in possible Jewish roots emerged in the 20th century.

Migration To Israel

The group’s relationship with Israel has developed over decades. Since the 1990s, around 4,000 Bnei Menashe have already moved to Israel, according to the organisation Shavei Israel, which promotes research into communities it considers linked to the biblical lost tribes. Another estimated 7,000 still remain in India.

The 250 arrivals this week are expected to settle in northern Israel. Under Israeli law, they must complete a formal conversion to Judaism before gaining citizenship.

Israeli Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer called their arrival as a “historic moment,” collectively with that the programme would in the extinguish raise about 1,200 other folks per year to Israel.

“Here is the beginning of an operation that can enable your complete community to immigrate, 1,200 per year,” he said.

The community numbers around 10,000 people, with nearly half already having migrated to Israel since the 1990s. Israel now plans to help bring the remaining members, with around 1,200 expected to relocate this year alone.

Identity, faith and integration

In Israel, many Bnei Menashe communities have integrated into society, with younger members serving in the military and entering education and employment sectors. Their practices include observing Jewish festivals, studying Hebrew, and following elements of kosher tradition.

However, their historical claim is not universally accepted. Mainstream historians and genetic studies have not confirmed a direct link to the ancient Israelites, though the community’s cultural and religious practices continue to be recognised within Israel’s immigration framework after conversion procedures.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously called their relocation as an “important and Zionist decision,” linking it to demographic and regional pattern targets in areas such because the Galilee.

The community’s migration moreover comes against the backdrop of unrest in Manipur, where ethnic clashes over the last three years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community have killed extra than 250 other folks.

(With inputs from agencies)

Recordsdata world Who Are The Bnei Menashe? Northeast India Community That Claims To Be Israel’s ‘Lost Tribe’

Read Extra

Read Extra