Indians in Israel

The principal Jewish communities historically associated with India are the Bene Israel of Maharashtra, the Cochin Jews of Kerala, and the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta and Bombay.[4] Indian-origin communities in Israel also include Bnei Menashe from northeastern India and Bene Ephraim.[5] The main immigration waves of the 1950s and 1960s came predominantly from Maharashtra, with smaller numbers from Kerala and Kolkata; immigration from Mizoram and Manipur became a further strand of this movement.[1]

Indian Jewish life in Israel combines participation in the wider Jewish society with continuing regional, linguistic, religious, and family traditions.[6][7] Bene Israel synagogues function as community centers, while Cochin Jews have maintained distinctive liturgy and holiday gatherings in agricultural settlements and urban neighborhoods.[7][8] Bene Israel have settled across the country, particularly in development towns and in communities such as Lod and Ramle, rather than forming a single geographically concentrated population.[6]

Population estimates require attention to dates and definitions.[6][9] One January 2018 estimate placed the number of Israeli Jews of Indian origin at about 80,000, while another report gave approximately 85,000.[10][1] A 1994 Bene Israel estimate of 40,000 included people with at least one Bene Israel parent; an academic study likewise reported a community estimate of approximately 40,000 and noted that official statistics did not separately identify Indian Jews.[9][6] A 2026 account estimated approximately 80,000 Bene Israel in Israel and about 3,000 in India.[11]

Cochin population estimates similarly vary in scope: accounts give approximately 4,000 or 5,000 in Israel, while a heritage-center representative put the population, including immigrants and descendants, at about 8,000.[8][12][13] Estimates of Jews remaining in India also belong to different source contexts: a 2017 academic chapter gave about 3,500, an immigration-related account approximately 5,000, and another account 7,000–8,000 without specifying the date of that estimate.[4][5][14] These figures should not be combined into a single contemporary census.[4][14]

Indian nationals employed in Israel represent a separate population from these Jewish communities.[2] A report published on May 31, 2026, counted 51,700 foreign workers from India, including 27,600 in caregiving and 15,900 in construction.[2] The report provided no India-specific breakdown by legal status, although it separately discussed legal and unauthorized foreign employment across Israel as a whole.[2]

Bene Israel communities developed principally in western India, including the Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Karachi areas, adopting Marathi and local customs while preserving Jewish practices.[15] From the eighteenth century, Bene Israel moved from Konkan villages to Bombay and farther afield under British influence.[11] Their earlier relative isolation gave way to closer contact with other Jews: teachers from Baghdad and Cochin taught mainstream Jewish practice, and Bombay’s first synagogue, Shaar Rahamim, was established in 1796.[15] A Hebrew-and-Marathi Passover Haggadah reflects the community’s religious and linguistic setting.[16]

By the twentieth century, Bene Israel included lawyers, professors, physicians, mayors, and authors who contributed to Indian cultural life.[11] Family histories also record Jewish life beyond Maharashtra: the Penkar family moved from Surat to Baroda before immigrating to Israel, and their Gujarat community gathered in Ahmedabad for Yom Kippur and Simchat Torah.[17] That community had no rabbi, and a cantor performed religious ceremonies.[17]

Kerala’s Jewish history is reflected in copper plates dated to around 1000 CE that recorded privileges granted by a local ruler, including tax exemptions and social-status rights.[18] Among the privileges described were riding elephants, carrying lamps and parasols, and having orchestras accompany processions.[18] Cochin Jews arrived in the region at different times, including the sixteenth-century arrival of Paradesi Jews following the expulsion from Spain.[18] Before migration, the community lived in two cities and three villages, often near synagogues; many worked independently in trade in order to observe Shabbat and holidays.[13]

The Baghdadi community had a different migration background.[19] The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs describes its members as Arabic- and Persian-speaking Jews arriving in India from the late eighteenth century, not only from Baghdad but also from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Basra.[19] Its account links their migration to persecution in Iraq and commercial opportunities under British rule, and says that most subsequently emigrated to Israel or English-speaking countries, including Britain, Australia, and the United States.[19]

Connections between Indian Jews and the Land of Israel preceded mass immigration.[20] Bene Israel participated in support for Jews suffering pogroms in Czarist Russia, made visits and donations to Jerusalem, served in Indian contingents in Palestine during the First World War, and, in individual cases, joined the Haganah after the Second World War.[20] These activities formed part of a history of Jewish identification extending beyond the eventual movement of families to Israel.[20]

India’s independence in 1947 and Israel’s establishment in 1948 were followed by substantial Jewish emigration.[15] For many emigrants, Zionism and the desire to live in Israel were central motivations rather than hostility toward India.[15] Among Bene Israel, national and religious commitments operated alongside concern about economic prospects in independent India, following employment advantages some had enjoyed under British rule.[6] The community reached an estimated peak of about 25,000 in the early 1950s; migration began in that decade, expanded in the 1960s and 1970s, and continued on a smaller scale during the 1980s and 1990s.[6]

Approximately 2,300 Bene Israel emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1952, and more than 12,000 had done so by 1969.[7] Most Bene Israel eventually moved to Israel, with an academic account associating increased emigration with Chief Rabbinate recognition in the 1960s.[11] An estimate covering Indian Jews more broadly placed India’s Jewish population at approximately 30,000 in 1948 and subsequent migration to Israel at around 20,000, with several thousand more emigrating elsewhere.[14]

Cochin Jews began preparing to immigrate after Israel’s establishment.[13] Early emigrants traveled by train to Bombay in 1949 and waited months for flights; one account reports about 2,800 arrivals in Israel by 1953.[13] Another places the major movement in 1953–54, estimating that about 2,400 people, almost the entire community, left India and approximately 100 remained.[8] The community collectively sold property, bought tickets, and financed its move despite not having experienced persecution in India.[18]

Early Bene Israel immigrants entered textile and metal industries and public services, often continuing types of work they had performed in India.[7] Settlement locations included Beersheba, Dimona, Ashdod, and Eilat, as well as kibbutzim and moshavim.[7] Larger concentrations developed in northern and southern development towns, including Yeruham, while Lod and Ramle became major centers where many residents worked for El Al and Israel Aircraft Industries.[6] Smaller communities lived in and around Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem.[6]

Cochin Jews settled in agricultural moshavim including Nevatim, Mesillat Zion, Ta’oz, Aviezer, and Kfar Yuval.[8] They also established neighborhoods in Rishon LeZion, Ashdod, Beersheba, and Jerusalem.[8] Adjustment to agricultural work was initially difficult, but the community subsequently prospered.[8] In its interview-based account, the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs also emphasizes English-language skills and professional experience, including medicine and banking, as resources that helped some Cochin immigrants establish themselves in Israeli society.[19]

Bnei Menashe immigration developed later.[21] The community is based chiefly in Mizoram and Manipur and includes groups identified as Chins, Lushais, Kukis, and Mizos, collectively often called Shinlung.[22] The modern movement began in the 1950s, and individual immigrants began reaching Israel in 1989.[22][21] Approximately 1,700 had immigrated by 2007, when immigration was halted; they underwent formal conversion and received recognition as new immigrants.[21] At that time, major concentrations included Kiryat Arba, Jerusalem, Maalot, and Sderot.[21]

Immigration resumed after a five-year interruption, with 275 Bnei Menashe arriving over the month preceding a January 2013 report.[23] This brought the reported Israeli population to about 2,000.[23] The government authorized Shavei Israel to arrange the immigration, and arrivals initially stayed at its Givat Haviva absorption center, with plans for relocation to Acre and Migdal HaEmek.[23] Subsequent groups included 162 arrivals in November 2017 and 252 in December 2020; the community’s first synagogue in Israel was dedicated in Nof HaGalil in 2022.[22]

A further government initiative, Operation Wings of Dawn, expanded family reunification and immigration planning.[24] Approximately 4,000 Bnei Menashe had immigrated under earlier government decisions over the preceding two decades, and 240 arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on April 23, 2026.[24] About 600 were expected on three flights over the following two weeks.[24] The operation’s stated schedule envisaged about 1,200 arrivals by the end of 2026 and approximately 4,800 more by 2030, with newcomers expected to stay in absorption centers in Nof HaGalil and Kiryat Yam.[24]

The first-stage initiative was reported to cost approximately NIS 90 million, covering immigration, conversion, absorption-center accommodation, Hebrew instruction, and employment integration.[25] Intake arrangements envisaged six-month stays, preparation for conversion, school registration, and other integration support.[26] The planned centers were scheduled to begin operating on January 1, 2026, as a continuation of a 2007 government decision concerning temporary A/5 visas for conversion candidates.[26]

Sha’arei Rahamim in Yeruham, described as Israel’s first purpose-built Bene Israel synagogue, opened in 1962.[27] Memories of the surrounding neighborhood include Marathi conversation and women wearing saris.[27] Bene Israel community life subsequently developed through synagogues serving as communal centers, nearly 30 voluntary associations, and activities conducted in Hebrew, English, and Marathi.[7] The Marathi quarterly Mai Bolli has been published in Israel since 1989.[7]

Marathi remained an important household language after migration, although its transmission varied between generations.[6] Some younger Bene Israel understood or spoke it, especially in families and towns with substantial community populations, but an academic study found that few could read it and that no Bene Israel schools taught the language.[6] Some immigrant households instead used English as their principal home language, while some Bene Israel had also spoken Hindi in India.[6] Children sometimes helped parents with limited Hebrew navigate bureaucratic matters through Marathi or English.[6]

The malida ceremony is a distinctive expression of Bene Israel identity and devotion to the prophet Elijah.[6] Prayers and gatherings accompany occasions such as a birth, recovery from illness, entry into the army, or a move to a new home.[6] The offering served to guests includes rice, coconut, fruit, and spices; descriptions of the thanksgiving ceremony also mention flattened rice, nuts, flowers, and five fruits, with observance at life-cycle events and Tu Bishvat.[6][27] A malida meal may also conclude a pilgrimage to an Elijah cave near Haifa.[12]

Some younger Bene Israel maintain malida as cultural heritage even when otherwise secular or married outside the community.[6] Food more broadly was the Indian custom most frequently identified as continuing among respondents in one study.[6] Some immigrants who had lived in Israel for more than 30 years still ate mainly Indian-style meals and bought ingredients, and sometimes cooking utensils, from Bene Israel shops.[6] Younger relatives learned Indian dishes and retained family and holiday traditions even as other aspects of everyday life changed.[6]

Marriage across Jewish community boundaries has become common among younger Bene Israel.[7] One study estimated that more than half of married second-generation Bene Israel appeared to have chosen partners who were not of Indian origin.[6] Family celebrations, food, music, and intermarriage all influenced how later generations maintained or redefined community identity.[6] In a 2005 interview-based account, the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs described Indian-influenced pregnancy and childbirth rituals as fading with integration into the wider Jewish world.[19]

Cochin Jewish cultural continuity is visible in architecture, worship, and communal gatherings.[8] Nevatim’s synagogue was built in a Keralan style, and some Cochini synagogues elsewhere in Israel follow traditional Cochin liturgy.[8] Community members gather for Simchat Torah and other holidays with a distinctive Cochini character.[8] The Nevatim Cochin Jewish Heritage Center was established to introduce visitors to the community’s history and traditions, even as younger members’ marriages to Israelis of other origins changed aspects of communal life.[13]

For the fiftieth anniversary of their move, residents of a southern Israeli moshav planned to recreate features of Cochin.[3] Their settlement already contained a replica synagogue, and they inaugurated a well modeled on one near the original; plans also included importing and planting trees from Kerala.[3] Cochin Jewish Council chairman Nechamia Izhak expressed the continuing emotional connection: “Our heart still beats for our place of origin in India where we did not encounter any kind of anti-Semitism.”[3]

Heritage preservation has also taken musical and genealogical forms.[18][19] The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs describes a women’s group in Israel reviving and performing Cochin songs and emphasizes the role of family celebrations and holidays in maintaining ties between villages and households.[19] A 2017 genealogy project involved hundreds of people researching family histories and contributing to a shared online tree containing about 9,000 entries; that total represented genealogical records, not a census of Israeli Cochin Jews.[18]

Bnei Menashe integration likewise involves language and religious instruction.[26] At a 2021 Passover practice event for 253 immigrants in Nof HaGalil, the municipality supplied Haggadot translated into Mizo and Kuki.[28] Participants compared earlier customs in India with the Israeli seder; one recalled eating matzah without karpas, using a soft rather than hard-boiled egg, and choosing a genuinely bitter leafy root for maror.[28]

Recent individual migration illustrates the continuing importance of family networks and Hebrew education.[29] Leya, born in Cochin and later resident in Mumbai, made aliyah in mid-2022, eight years after her sister.[29] She attended the five-month Ulpan Etzion program in Haifa and then moved to Tel Aviv for a two-year MBA at Tel Aviv University.[29] She described feeling that her Jewish identity was understood in Israel and shared Indian culture with fellow students, some of whom had not known that India had Jewish communities.[29]

For Indian foreign workers, contemporary institutional arrangements center on employment rather than Jewish communal absorption.[2][30] A recruitment directive was scheduled to end private recruitment of construction workers from India and Sri Lanka on January 1, 2027, shifting recruitment from those countries to bilateral channels.[30] Bilateral recruitment was to continue, while private recruitment from other approved countries would remain possible within quotas.[30] An industry association opposed the change and attributed more than 5,000 combined arrivals from India and Sri Lanka during 2023–24 to the bilateral channel; that figure was not India-specific.[30]

Indian-origin Jews have been characterized in a joint statement by the Israeli and Indian prime ministers as a human bridge between the two countries, proud of their heritage.[10] The continued combination of attachment to India with Jewish identification and participation in Israel gives this relationship a substantial communal dimension.[3][10] Cochin community commemorations, Bene Israel Marathi publishing, and continuing family reunification among Bnei Menashe each demonstrate different forms of that connection.[3][7][24]

A 2017 Tel Aviv event for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking 25 years of Israel–India diplomatic relations, reportedly attracted about 10,000 people of Indian origin.[31] The audience included immigrants, tourists, and Indian citizens living in Israel, so its size was not a population count.[31] The gathering nevertheless brought together constituencies whose connections to India and Israel arose through different routes.[31]

Indian Jewish settlement also forms part of the history of Israel’s peripheral communities.[32] Israelis of Indian descent continued to live in places where the state settled them between the 1950s and 1970s, a pattern examined through questions of migration, acculturation, ethnicity, and gender in Maina Chawla Singh’s book Being Indian, Being Israeli: Migration, Ethnicity and Gender in the Jewish Homeland.[32] Employment in aviation, aircraft manufacturing, textiles, metals, and public services placed Bene Israel immigrants within several branches of Israeli economic life.[6][7]

The persistence of community identity has attracted sustained scholarly and archival attention.[33] Shalva Weil’s 1977 University of Sussex doctoral thesis, Bene Israel Indian Jews in Lod, Israel: a study of the persistence of ethnicity and ethnic identity, comprised two volumes.[33] Oral-history documentation preserves family migration routes and details of religious organization in Gujarat, while linguistic artifacts such as the Hebrew-and-Marathi Haggadah record the Indian settings from which migrants came.[17][16] These materials document both migration to Israel and the cultural worlds carried into Israeli society.[16][17]

Bene Israel immigrants encountered significant disputes over marriage eligibility and unequal treatment.[7][6] In 1954, some Israeli rabbis refused to marry Bene Israel to other Jews, raising questions concerning divorce, levirate marriage, and ḥaliẓah.[7] On October 18, 1962, the Chief Rabbinate’s council permitted such marriages but required checks of maternal ancestry and family circumstances.[7] The issue concerned halakhic eligibility for marriage between communities rather than a blanket denial that Bene Israel were Jews.[34]

Restrictions prompted resentment and a Jerusalem strike in summer 1964.[7] Prime Minister Levi Eshkol affirmed that the government regarded Bene Israel as Jews in every respect and equal in rights, including matrimony.[7] A further account records an August 16, 1964, Knesset resolution affirming equal rights and the subsequent revocation of special family-status investigations.[27] Separately, an academic study describes the early melting-pot expectation that Asian and African immigrants abandon their traditions, and reports that some second-generation Bene Israel perceived unequal treatment associated with skin color, culture, dress, food, and accents, before a later shift toward cultural pluralism.[6]

The Jewish Review of Books recounts a November 1951 sit-down protest and subsequent hunger strike by Bene Israel immigrants objecting to poor jobs, inadequate kosher food, and racial discrimination.[35] Some secured passage back to India, and some subsequently returned to Israel.[35] Cochin Jews also faced cultural adjustment: one account records the view that their Sephardic religious practices had been easier to maintain in India than within an Ashkenazi-dominated Israeli setting.[8]

Ancestry traditions require distinction from independently established history.[11][22] Bene Israel accounts describe ancestors surviving a shipwreck on the Konkan coast after leaving ancient Israel; one version names seven women and seven men rescued by Elijah.[27] A genetic study involving 18 Bene Israel participants found both Jewish and Indian ancestry and described a distinct population within India, but did not establish the shipwreck narrative itself.[36] Likewise, Cochin traditions of arrival in King Solomon’s time extend beyond the documented evidence described in the available accounts.[18]

Bnei Menashe identification with the biblical tribe of Manasseh remains a disputed historical claim.[22] Scholarly explanations include an association between nineteenth-century missionary activity, Bible reading, and later Jewish identification, alongside interpretations taking community traditions more literally.[21] Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar recognized the community as descendants of Israel in 2005 while requiring formal conversion.[37] Debate has also included official skepticism, supporters’ accusations of racism, and criticism of settlement choices in disputed territories.[12]

Population estimates and immigration targets are not uniform.[6][11] Bene Israel estimates range from approximately 40,000 in earlier studies to approximately 80,000 in recent accounts, without a shared methodology for reconciliation.[6][11] Reports on Bnei Menashe relocation give differing totals, including a 2025 plan for 1,200 arrivals followed by about 4,600 more, compared with the later operational schedule of 1,200 followed by about 4,800.[38][24] Such estimates and program targets should not be treated as a single agreed population count.[24][38]