A total of 240 new olim (“immigrants”) from the Bnei Menashe community in northeastern India arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport on April 23 as part of a joint operation led by Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Upon landing, they were welcomed in a moving reception ceremony attended by Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer; Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, the Jewish Agency’s chairman of the executive; chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel; and Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel David Yosef.
In the past two decades, approximately 4,000 members of the Bnei Menashe community have immigrated to Israel under previous government decisions.
According to the current plan, about 1,200 additional immigrants are expected to arrive by the end of 2026, and by 2030, the process of bringing approximately 4,800 more community members—currently residing in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur—is expected to be completed. In total, approximately 6,000 olim are expected to arrive as part of “Operation Wings of Dawn,” completing the Aliyah of the Bnei Menashe community to Israel.
This marks the first of three flights expected to arrive over the next two weeks, bringing about 600 new immigrants from the Bnei Menashe community. The flight that landed today included dozens of young families, who will initially move into absorption centers in Nof HaGalil, where they will also reunite with relatives who made aliyah in previous years.
Sofer stated that “there is no more fitting and moving time to welcome a plane full of olim than right after the Jewish state’s 78th Independence Day. Welcome home!”
Named “Wings of Dawn,” the operation follows a government decision made last November, initiated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, with the goal of completing the immigration of the remaining members of the Bnei Menashe community to Israel. The initiative aims to facilitate family reunification with relatives already in the country and to support their successful integration into Israeli society.
It is being led by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and the Jewish Agency, in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Conversion Authority, the Population and Immigration Authority, and additional partners.
Key partners include the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Federations of North America, Keren Hayesod, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Christians United for Israel, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and supporters of Israel in Korea, among others.
