Netanyahu's Immigration Plan for Indian Jews Heats Up Domestic Tensions in Israel

JERUSALEM – In a move hailed as a "historic Zionist decision," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has approved a plan to facilitate the immigration of the entire Bnei Menashe community from India to Israel.

According to the newly approved framework, approximately 1,200 members of the community are scheduled to arrive and be settled in Israel by the end of 2026. The remaining 5,800 individuals are expected to follow in a second wave, with the entire operation slated for completion by 2030. The plan emphasizes settling the new immigrants in the northern regions of the country, including the Galilee, to help bolster the population in those areas.

"This is an important and Zionist decision that will strengthen the North and the Galilee," Prime Minister Netanyahu stated. "We are continuing to fulfill the dream of the ingathering of the exiles, a foundational principle of the Jewish state."

The Bnei Menashe, or "children of Menasseh," claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who were exiled by the Assyrian Empire over 2,700 years ago. Their centuries-long journey has taken them through Afghanistan and China before settling in the northeastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram. Over the past few decades, several thousand Bnei Menashe have already immigrated to Israel, where they have undergone formal conversion to Judaism to be recognized by the state.

Plan Meets Domestic Resistance and Protest

However, the government's celebratory announcement was met with immediate and vocal opposition from some segments of Israeli society. Concurrent with the news, several hundred hardline protesters, identifying themselves as Zionist activists, staged demonstrations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Carrying signs with slogans like "Protect Our Jewish Identity" and "Mass Immigration Hurts Our Culture," the protesters voiced fears that the influx of a large, non-European Jewish community would dilute the country's cultural fabric.

"The character of the state is at stake," said one protester, David Klein. "We are a small nation, and bringing in thousands of people from a completely different background, who have practices that are unfamiliar to us, is a threat to our way of life."

Adding a more contentious religious dimension, leaflets distributed by a fringe Orthodox group circulated online, containing virulently anti-immigration rhetoric. The leaflets crudely mischaracterized the Bnei Menashe, who are devout in their practice of Judaism, as "Indian cow worshippers" and stated that "the Orthodox establishment will never accept them."

This sentiment, while not representative of the official government or mainstream religious position, highlights the challenges the new immigrants may face from the most rigid quarters of Israeli society. The Bnei Menashe's Jewish status has been a point of contention for years, requiring them to undergo conversion upon arrival in Israel to be registered as Jews by the Chief Rabbinate.

Despite the protests, organizations like Shavei Israel, which has long championed the cause of the Bnei Menashe, praised the government's decision as a "momentous and righteous step," bringing to a close a long chapter of exile for a community that has steadfastly held onto its Jewish identity.