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Israel welcomes immigration with a rider

Special Correspondent

Guwahati: Israeli ambassador in India David Danieli said that Bnei Menashe, the descendants of the Tribe of Manasseh — one of the 10 lost Israeli tribes living in Mizoram and Manipur are welcome to immigrate to his country provided they converted to Judaism.

Mr. Danieli told The Hindu that though Bnei Menashes of northeast India were not Jewish, their historical and ancestral links with Israel had been well established.

“They are welcome to return to their ancestral land but they have to be fully converted into Judaism,” he said.

The Israeli Ambassador revealed that about 1,000 people from the northeast, mostly from Mizroam, who call themselves Bnei Menashe, had migrated to Israel over the past 10 years and had settled there after fully converting to Judaism.

He, however, said that the Israel Government was not involved in converting these people on Indian soil.

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