Israel approved a plan to bring the remaining “Bnei Menashe” community from India to Israel.

About 1,200 are expected to arrive by 2026 with a budget of 90 million shekels for immigration, conversion, housing in absorption centers, Hebrew studies, and employment support.

A second phase aims to bring 4,600 more by 2030, completing the community’s aliyah and reuniting families.

A delegation from state agencies and the Sephardi Chief Rabbinate will travel to India within a week to evaluate eligibility.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said the move is “important and Zionist.”

The Bnei Menashe claim that they are descendants of the tribe of Menashe, exiled from Eretz Yisroel more than 2,700 years ago, by the Assyrian empire.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)