The Israeli government approved on Sunday the immigration of 1,200 members of India’s Bnei Menashe community by the end of 2026, and about 4,600 more by 2030.

This process is expected to bring the entire Bnei Menashe community to Israel, reuniting families, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

The new immigrants are expected to settle in Nof HaGalil and additional cities in northern Israel as part of a wide-scale absorption process in cooperation with Minister Zeev Elkin, who serves in the Finance Ministry and is responsible for the Northern Rehabilitation Directorate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I welcome the important and Zionist decision adopted today by the government, which will bring about an additional wave of immigration of the Bnei Menashe community to the Land of Israel. The new immigrants will settle in the north of the country, as part of the government’s policy to strengthen and develop the North and the Galilee.”

The decision was initiated by Netanyahu and Israeli Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer, in collaboration with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister Elkin, the PMO said.

“This wave of immigration joins the blessed immigration we have seen over the past two years from many Jewish communities around the world—an immigration that strengthens the resilience, solidarity, and renewal of the State of Israel,” said Sofer.

Smotrich added, “Completing the immigration of the Bnei Menashe is a renewed connection with brothers who have carried in their hearts the longing for Zion for generations.”

A first Israeli delegation will depart within a week to India, together with the Chief Rabbinate, Conversion Authority, Aliyah and Integration Ministry, Population and Immigration Authority, Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency to examine the community members’ eligibility, according to Decision 2442 from 2007, which allows groups to enter Israel for the purpose of conversion and naturalization, the PMO added.

After approval of the lists by the Chief Rabbi of Israel and president of the Great Rabbinical Court, the immigrants will enter the country with an A/5 visa, the statement read.

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