Government approves plan to bring all Bnei Menashe Jews from India to Israel by 2030

The government approved a proposal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer to jumpstart efforts by the Bnei Menashe Jewish community in northeast India to move to Israel amid ethnic tensions in the Manipur and Mizoram regions, the premier’s office announces in a statement.

According to the cabinet resolution approved at today’s government meeting, 1,200 members of the community will immigrate by the end of 2026, and by 2030, the government expects to complete the arrival of some 5,800 additional immigrants. The move is intended to bring the entire Bnei Menashe community to Israel and reunite families with members who have already moved to the country, according to the statement.

The newcomers will be absorbed in Nof HaGalil and other northern cities, the statement adds.

Netanyahu calls the move “an important and Zionist decision that will also strengthen the North and the Galilee,” while thanking Sofer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who is in charge of rehabilitating the Gaza and northern borders, for their cooperation on the initiative.

Over the past two decades, approximately 4,000 members of the community have immigrated to Israel under previous government decisions, and the government now seeks to complete the process of bringing the entire community, the premier’s office adds.

In a separate statement, Netanyahu’s office says that the premier met this morning with India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, to discuss “strengthening economic ties between the two countries across a range of issues, including expanding investments, advancing a trade agreement,” and to promote the India-Middle East Europe economic corridor (IMEC), a US-backed trade and transportation initiative that includes Israel.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat and Indian Ambassador to Israel J.P. Singh also participated in the meeting.