‘LOST TRIBE’

Indian Jews Arrive in Israel

After five-year struggle.

The “Lost Tribe” is home. Dozens of Jews claiming to descend from a lost biblical Jewish tribe arrived in Israel Monday from a village in northeastern India, ending a five-year struggle to return to what they call “our land.” The Bnei Menashe say they were banished from ancient Israel in the eighth century B.C., and were recognized as a lost tribe in 2005, when 1,700 of them moved back to Israel—before the government stopped issuing them visas two years later. Israel recently reversed that policy, allowing the remaining 7,200 to immigrate. Some dispute the tribe’s qualification as Jews, arguing that they are simply fleeing poverty in India or being used to strengthen Israel’s claim to the West Bank.