The individuals are the first from the Bnei Menashe group to arrive in Israel since the government decided in November to fund the immigration of about 4,600 members of the group from the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. They were welcomed with traditional Jewish singing.
The group claims descent from Manasseh, the ancestor of one of Israel's biblical "lost tribes."
About 4,000 people from the group have already immigrated to Israel since the 1990s, according to an organization that seeks to trace the lost tribes. About 7,000 still live in India.
