Members of the Bnei Menashe (Sons of Manasseh) community from India wave Israeli flags as they arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, on April 23, 2026. More than 250 Indians immigrants claiming descent from the Bnei Menashe community, a biblical tribe which considers itself one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel residing in India, landed at Ben Gurion airport as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel.
| Photo Credit: AFP
The Government of India’s advisory about the security situation in Israel, amid the ongoing war in West Asia, came into focus on Thursday (April 23, 2026) when Israel airlifted around 240 individuals from Mizoram to Tel Aviv as part of Israel’s ‘Operation Wings of Dawn’.
Though members of the Bnei Menashe community have been taken to Israel on earlier occasions, this is the first time that such a large number of them are being airlifted against the backdrop of the regional war in West Asia. The Operation Wings of Dawn, sanctioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aims to airlift members of the Bnei Menashe community from Northeast India to Israel.
Published – April 24, 2026 03:29 pm IST
