Mizo, Manipuri Jews fight for Israel amid war with Hamas

The Northeastern Jewish community, also called Bnei Menashe, have now found themselves on Israel’s frontlines.

GUWAHATI | Updated: 19 October, 2023 5:49 pm IST

Northeastern Jewish community, also called Bnei Menashe, have now found themselves on Israel's frontlines.

GUWAHATI: Following the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which has now reached its second week, the Northeastern Jewish community, also called Bnei Menashe, have now found themselves on Israel’s frontlines.

Sang Guite, a resident of Churachandpur, Manipur has been worried for his brother Ruben Guite. Ruben had migrated to Israel two years back and now finds himself fighting for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). “My brother is serving in the Israeli army to protect the territory. Now, they are currently fighting the Hamas. We can’t contact him and we are very concerned about him,” said Sang Guite.

Ruben is from the Bnei Menashe community, one of the descendants of a ‘lost’ Jewish tribe belonging to the Kuki-Zo tribe from Mizoram and Manipur. Apart from Ruben, there are others who hail from the Bnei Menashe community who have also joined the IDF.

As per highly placed sources in Tel Aviv, over 100 people from the community have been associated with the IDF amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Meanwhile, Natanel Touthang, a Bnei Menashe Kuki Soldier from Manipur was injured in an attack on the Lebanon border on October 18 night. The bravery of this Indian migrant community fighting for Israel is not a new phenomenon. Earlier, Eliezer Chungthang Menashe received the Presidential Medal from President Rivlin while serving in the elite 13th Golani Brigade.

There are about 85,000 Jews of Indian descent in Israel. The Bnei Menashe community consists of over 10,000 people who are distributed across Israel,as well as Manipur and Mizoram in India. Most of them live in Sderot, a town close to Gaza, which has witnessed some of the major turmoils by the ongoing violent war between Israel and Hamas.

The New Indian spoke to the Chairman of the Bnei Menashe Council, India, Lalam Hangshing who stated that the Bnei Menashe has routinely migrated to Israel since the 1990s. Hangshing, himself born in Manipur, shifted to New Delhi when the violence began on May 3.

Hangshing stated, “The Bnei Menashe is one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel. We are a very small community spread out throughout the country. We have tried to help Israel by contributing not just in the military but through donations and other activities.”

The Jews who settled in India are commonly from three distinct groups, the Bene Israel, the Cochinis and the Baghdadis. The fourth community from Mizoram and Manipur, which is the Bnei Menashe, came to prominence in 2005, a chief rabbi of Israel affirmed their identity as a “lost tribe” group with historic Jewish ties, tracing their origins to the Israelite tribe of Manasseh.

Following the Israel-Hamas confrontation, the sentiment has resonated in Mizoram and Manipur. The Bnei Menashe community held special communal prayers for the people of Israel and for the safe return of those who were kidnapped to Gaza. In Israel, they have even distributed winter wear for the soldiers who are in the line of duty.