The Knesset's Aliyah Committee discussed Wednesday the absorption of those new immigrants from India thought to be from the lost tribe of Menashe ("Bnei Menashe"). The bulk of the Bnei Menashe are received in Israel by communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Labor Knesset member Ofir Paz charged that the Bnei Menashe newcomers are "being cynically exploited for political purposes." Paz told Israel Radio that he is determined to stop the exploitation.
"I think the whole thing is something that is totally unacceptable. You bring people from all over the world - from Mexico, from India, from whatever - straight to the 'settlements.' I don't think they should be the people who are taking the houses of those that left the settlements during the last years and came back to inside the Green Line," he said. "I think it is cynical, I think it is unacceptable, and I demand that they will stop bringing these innocent people to become settlers. It is unthinkable," he continued. "If they want to bring them, okay. Bring them to Afula, bring them to Tel Aviv, bring them to Beersheba, bring them to Rishon Lezion, but don't bring them straight to Gush Katif and to Kiryat Arba. It is immoral."
However, Amishav, the non-profit organization funding the Bnei Menashe immigration project says that Paz's statements are without substance. The organization's director, Michael Freund, said today that there is no truth to the charge that the Bnei Menashe are being deliberately sent to Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Freund, a resident of Ra'anana, said the newcomers are being sent to Yesha because no one else agrees to accept them and, as they only undergo pro-forma conversion once in Israel, they are not eligible for new immigrant benefits.
"We are bringing the Bnei Menashe here [to Israel] with the approval and permission of the Interior Ministry and the Chief Rabbinate. The only reason that they go to Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza initially is because the government gives us no funding. Hence, the only communities thus far that have been prepared to accept them and to absorb them have been Jewish communities in [Yesha]. If communities such as Caesarea or Herzliya, or communities in the Negev or the Galilee, are prepared to invest the necessary resources into absorbing them, we will be more than happy to see the Bnei Menashe settle throughout the country."
"I think the whole thing is something that is totally unacceptable. You bring people from all over the world - from Mexico, from India, from whatever - straight to the 'settlements.' I don't think they should be the people who are taking the houses of those that left the settlements during the last years and came back to inside the Green Line," he said. "I think it is cynical, I think it is unacceptable, and I demand that they will stop bringing these innocent people to become settlers. It is unthinkable," he continued. "If they want to bring them, okay. Bring them to Afula, bring them to Tel Aviv, bring them to Beersheba, bring them to Rishon Lezion, but don't bring them straight to Gush Katif and to Kiryat Arba. It is immoral."
However, Amishav, the non-profit organization funding the Bnei Menashe immigration project says that Paz's statements are without substance. The organization's director, Michael Freund, said today that there is no truth to the charge that the Bnei Menashe are being deliberately sent to Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Freund, a resident of Ra'anana, said the newcomers are being sent to Yesha because no one else agrees to accept them and, as they only undergo pro-forma conversion once in Israel, they are not eligible for new immigrant benefits.
"We are bringing the Bnei Menashe here [to Israel] with the approval and permission of the Interior Ministry and the Chief Rabbinate. The only reason that they go to Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza initially is because the government gives us no funding. Hence, the only communities thus far that have been prepared to accept them and to absorb them have been Jewish communities in [Yesha]. If communities such as Caesarea or Herzliya, or communities in the Negev or the Galilee, are prepared to invest the necessary resources into absorbing them, we will be more than happy to see the Bnei Menashe settle throughout the country."