TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Around 240 Indians claiming descent from a biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday, as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel.

The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song.

They were the first “Bnei Menashe” (“Sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government decided in November to fund the immigration of around 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India.

The community claims to descend from Manasseh, the forefather of one of the biblical “lost tribes” of Israel exiled in 720 BC by Assyrian conquerors.

Dagan Zolat, who has lived in Israel for 20 years, was at the airport to meet a man whom he described as his brother.

“We were neighbors and among the only Jews in our village,” he told Agence France-Presse, adding that it was nine years since he had seen his friend.

“When my son was little (in India), my friend often carried him in his arms,” he said.

The Shavei Israel organization, which seeks to trace the descendants of the lost tribes, said that some 4,000 Bnei Menashe have already immigrated to Israel since the 1990s, with around 7,000 others still living in India.

Their oral history tells of a centuries-long exodus through Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China, all the while adhering to certain Jewish religious practices, such as circumcision.

In India, they were converted to Christianity by 19th-century missionaries.

The 250 Bnei Menashe who arrived on Thursday are to settle in northern Israel, according to the ministry of integration.

They will need to convert to Judaism in order to become Israeli citizens.

Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer, who welcomed the newcomers at the airport, told AFP that their arrival marked a “historic moment.”

“This is the beginning of an operation that will allow the entire community to immigrate, 1,200 per year,” he said.

Manipur has seen periodic clashes for nearly three years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community that have killed more than 250 people.

Since April 2025, more than 18,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel, down 18 percent on the previous year.