Bnei Menashe

Bnei Menashe Latest News

The Government of India’s advisory about the security situation in Israel, amid the ongoing war in West Asia, came into focus recently when Israel airlifted around 240 individuals from Mizoram to Tel Aviv as part of Israel’s ‘Operation Wings of Dawn’.

About Bnei Menashe

• The Bnei Menashe, known in India as the Shinlung, is an ethnic community that hails from the northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur. 
• They are a community of about 10,000 people from Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups. They include members of the Chin, Kuki, and Mizo groups. 
• The population claims to be descendants of the Biblical tribe of Manasseh, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which were exiled by the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC.
• They are Christians converted into Jews and observe traditional Jewish practices and celebrate holidays such as Sukkot. 
• After a centuries-long exodus through Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet, and China, the community reached India’s northeast and settled in Manipur and Mizoram.
• Historians believe this community may have arrived in India within the last 300–500 years.
• Their ancestors were exiled long before the Roman dispersion, but they continued to practice Judaism across the generations, even if not in a contemporary Orthodox way. 
• Once they came into contact with Israel and global Jewry in the 1980s, they embraced modern Jewish learning and practice.
• Nearly half of the ‘Bnei Menashe’ population migrated to Israel over a period of time and became its citizens.

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Operation Wings of Dawn

• In 2025, the Israeli government launched ‘Operation Wings of Dawn’ to facilitate the immigration of the remaining members of the Bnei Menashe community to Israel.
• The programme includes flights, conversion classes, housing, Hebrew lessons, and other benefits.
• According to the recent Israeli Government plan, approximately 1,200 community members are expected to immigrate to Israel by the end of 2026. 
• A second stage, slated for completion by 2030, will bring an additional 4,600 people, effectively completing the arrival of the entire community.

Source: TH