Project Spotlight: Second Bnei Menashe Freedom Flight 

IFCJ Canada  |  May 10, 2026

The first aliyah (immigration to Israel) flight for the Bnei Menashe community in India arrived in Israel on April 23, bringing 232 descendants of the displaced Hebrew tribe of Manasseh back to their biblical homeland. Four days later, the second Freedom Flight arrived, both generously sponsored by our sister organization, IFCJ U.S. 

Our President, Yael Eckstein, was at Ben Gurion Airport to greet the 241 olim (immigrants). Rather than waiting for everyone to disembark, she boarded the plane after it landed so she could greet them. 

“This is something that the global Fellowship has been doing for years, bringing Jewish people home from all four corners of the earth.  And look at this! A whole plane full of Jews who were once part of the Lost Tribe of Manasseh and now, they’re found and coming back to Israel,” she said. 

As Yael made her way through the plane, families and elderly passengers sang Am Yisrael Chai. The children she met beamed with joy, waving their small Israeli flags as she welcomed them and their parents home. Many of the olim also had family members who had made aliyah years earlier, and they were reunited during the welcome ceremony after disembarking. 

“These Jews from the tribe of Manasseh live secluded in the mountains of India, keeping their religion, their faith, and their culture alive. Since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, when the Jewish people were scattered to the four corners of the earth in exile, they have remained steadfast in their identity. This is testament that God’s Word is forever. He is faithful,” said Yael. 

IFCJ Canada has helped hundreds of olim to Israel through our aliyah program. Learn how you can be part of fulfilling God’s word. 

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).