Indian Jews in Israel: Bene Israel, Cochin and Bnei Menashe

Three distinct Jewish communities trace their origin to India. The Bene Israel of the Konkan coast of Maharashtra are the largest and have the longest documented continuous presence in India. The Cochin Jews of Kerala, on the Malabar coast, have an equally long history with a sharply different cultural and ritual tradition. The Bnei Menashe, from the North-East Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, are a more recent community whose Jewish identity has been formally recognised by Israeli religious authorities only since 2005. Most members of all three communities have now made aliyah to Israel. This piece sets out each community, its history, and its current footprint.

The Bene Israel of Maharashtra

The Bene Israel ("Sons of Israel") historically lived along the Konkan coast of Maharashtra. The community's own oral tradition traces its origin to a shipwreck off the Konkan coast in antiquity; modern scholarship places the documented Bene Israel presence in India from at least the medieval period. Until the nineteenth century the community was concentrated in coastal villages and worked primarily in oil-pressing. From the early nineteenth century onwards a steady migration from villages to Bombay (Mumbai) gave the community its modern urban centre.

Between 1948 and 1952, approximately 2,300 Bene Israel made aliyah to Israel as part of the immediate post-independence wave. The pace continued through the 1960s and 1970s. As of mid-2026, the Bene Israel community in Israel is estimated in the tens of thousands, with the largest concentrations in Beersheba in the Negev and a substantial community in Ramla. A smaller Bene Israel community remains in India, primarily in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Ahmedabad and a handful of Konkan villages.

The Cochin Jews of Kerala

The Cochin Jews are the smaller and older of the two coastal Indian Jewish communities. Their origin tradition associates them with the trading networks of the Malabar coast going back to antiquity, and their continuous documented presence in Kochi (Cochin) is verifiable from the early medieval period. The community historically distinguished itself into the "Black Jews" (Malabari Jews) and the "White Jews" (Paradesi Jews), reflecting different waves and trading-network origins.

Cochin Jewish aliyah to Israel began in the 1950s and was largely complete by the 1970s. The community in Israel is concentrated in four moshavim (agricultural settlements) in the Negev: Nevatim, Shahar, Yuval and Mesilat Zion. The Paradesi synagogue in Mattancherry, Kochi, dating in its current form to 1568, remains in active use as a historical monument and limited functioning synagogue; only a handful of Cochin Jews remain in Kerala.

The Bnei Menashe of Manipur and Mizoram

The Bnei Menashe ("Sons of Manasseh") trace their tradition to descent from one of the lost tribes of Israel, specifically the tribe of Manasseh. The community lives primarily in the North-East Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, with related communities across the borders in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Their religious tradition emerged in its modern form in the late twentieth century, drawing on a combination of pre-existing tribal traditions and contact with Christian missionary work in the region.

Bnei Menashe aliyah to Israel began informally in the late 1980s with the support of a small number of Israeli rabbis. Until 2005 the community did not have Israeli rabbinical recognition. That changed in 2005 when Shlomo Amar, then Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, formally recognised the Bnei Menashe as descendants of the lost tribe of Manasseh, opening a more structured path to aliyah subject to formal conversion under Israeli rabbinical authority.

As of mid-2026, approximately 5,000 Bnei Menashe are in Israel. In November 2025 the Israeli government approved a plan to bring approximately 5,800 further Bnei Menashe to Israel from India by 2030, with settlement primarily in the Galilee, at an estimated budget of NIS 90 million (approximately USD 27 million). If executed in full, the plan would substantially complete the Bnei Menashe aliyah from India.

Current footprint in Israel

The combined Indian Jewish population in Israel as of mid-2026 is estimated at approximately 85,000 to 95,000, with the Bene Israel the largest component, the Bnei Menashe the fastest-growing, and the Cochin Jews the smallest. The communities maintain distinct synagogues, cultural associations and ritual traditions in Israel, and have intermarried widely with other Israeli Jewish communities over the decades since their aliyah. Indian-origin Israeli political figures, military officers and cultural producers exist across all three communities, though no individual identifies primarily as a representative of the Indian Jewish communities as a single bloc.

Relationship to the India-Israel state-to-state bilateral

The Indian Jewish communities in Israel have a modest but visible role in the India-Israel bilateral relationship. The visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel in July 2017 included a community reception attended by Bene Israel and other Indian-origin Israelis. The visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu to India in January 2018 included visits to the Mumbai Jewish heritage sites at Nariman House (Chabad House Mumbai, site of the 2008 Mumbai attacks) and to the Bene Israel synagogues in the Konkan region. Bilateral statements typically reference the Indian Jewish communities as evidence of the long civilisational connection between the two countries, separately from contemporary policy questions.

In one paragraph

Three distinct Jewish communities trace their origin to India: the Bene Israel of the Maharashtra Konkan coast (the largest, tens of thousands now in Israel with concentrations in Beersheba and Ramla); the Cochin Jews of Kerala (the smallest, concentrated in four Negev moshavim; the Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi remains a working monument); and the Bnei Menashe of Manipur and Mizoram (approximately 5,000 in Israel as of mid-2026, with another 5,800 to be brought under a November 2025 government decision by 2030). The combined Indian Jewish population in Israel is estimated at approximately 85,000 to 95,000. The communities maintain distinct ritual traditions, have intermarried widely with other Israeli Jewish communities, and feature in the symbolic register of bilateral statements as evidence of the deep civilisational connection between India and Israel.

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Sources

[1]: "Bene Israel: history of the community." Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Jewish Virtual Library. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/

[2]: "Indian Jews in Israel." Wikipedia overview with citations to community sources and CBS data. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Jews_in_Israel

[3]: Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, country-of-origin tables for Israeli population. https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/

[4]: "Cochin Jews and the Malabar coast." Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/

[5]: "Cochin Jewish aliyah to the Negev moshavim." Israel State Archives historical bulletins. https://www.gov.il/

[6]: "Bnei Menashe." Wikipedia overview with sources. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bnei_Menashe

[7]: "The Immigration and Strategic Assimilation of Bene Menashe: A Zomian Jewish Community in Israel." Asian Studies Review (2024). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10357823.2024.2381777

[8]: "Govt approves plan to bring India's remaining Bnei Menashe back to Israel." Jerusalem Post (November 2025). https://www.jpost.com/aliyah/article-874914

[9]: "Israel approves immigration of 'India's forgotten Jews' by 2030." The Jewish Chronicle (November 2025). https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/israel-approves-immigration-india-forgotten-jews-bnei-menashe-b3algjtj

[10]: "Indian-origin Israelis: cultural and political participation." Israel India Friendship Forum overview. https://www.gov.il/

[11]: Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to India, January 2018, Israeli MFA visit summary. https://www.gov.il/