Every time a group of Bnei Menashe, Jews from the North-East of India boards a flight from Manipur or Mizoram to Israel, the same set of questions resurfaces again, accusatory in nature and increasingly amplified by certain sections of the media and Online commentary spaces.

Are they really Jewish? Are they merely economic migrants? Are they being used to populate the Judea & Samaria (West Bank)? Is there any historical or genetic basis to their claims? And why is their migration facilitated while Palestinians remain displaced?

These are not trivial questions. But the way they are framed and the assumptions embedded within them, often obscure reality more than they reveal. I offer a counter-perspective.

First, are the Bnei Menashe genuinely Jewish? This question rests on a flawed assumption, that Jewish identity must be historically or genetically “proven” to be valid. In reality, Jewish belonging has long been determined through religious law and process rather than empirical certainty. The Bnei Menashe were not accepted uncritically, their claims underwent decades of scrutiny by Israeli religious authorities. Their eventual recognition in 2005 came with the requirement of formal conversion, and placed their inclusion firmly within established halakhic (Jewish law) frameworks. More Importantly, studies within the community indicate that an overwhelming majority accept conversion as a meaningful step. Conversion is not a negation of identity but an affirmation of it. As the medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides writes in Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Issurei Biah 13:17), “a convert who embraces the covenant is fully part of Israel in every respect.” In this light, the acceptance of the Bnei Menashe does not rest on unverified historical claims, but on a recognized religious-legal process that has long defined Jewish continuity.

Second, is the “lost tribe” claim invalid? This Phrasing misunderstands how communities construct identity. Across the world, collective memory and oral tradition play a central role in shaping belonging. The Bnei Menashe’s claim of descent from the “lost tribe of Israel” may be debated within academic circles, but it cannot be dismissed simply because it does not conform to historical or scientific verification. Similar assertions have been seen among the Lemba people in South Africa, the Kaifeng Jews in China, and the Falash Mura in Ethiopia and the Bnei Menashe were not the first to make such claims.

In the religious context, the idea of the “lost........

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