Central Idea

India has initiated Operation Ajay to evacuate its citizens who wish to return from conflict-ridden Israel.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced this operation, emphasizing the safety and well-being of Indian nationals abroad.

Operation Ajay

Evacuation Plan: Special chartered flights and other arrangements are being organized for the return of Indian citizens from Israel.
Second Evacuation: This marks the second evacuation operation this year, following Operation Kaveri, which brought back several thousand Indian citizens from strife-torn Sudan in April-May.

The Indian Jewish community, with an ancestry spanning over 2000 years in India, has a unique history.
India has been a welcoming home to them, where they thrived without encountering anti-Semitism, making it a distinct place on the global map.
However, the landscape changed with the independence of India in 1947 and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
This transformation marked the beginning of a new chapter in India-Israel relations, leading to the migration of Indian Jews to their religious homeland.

Indian Jews can be categorized into four main sects, each with its own historical origins and cultural traditions:

Cochin Jews: Tracing their arrival to India back to 50 CE, they primarily settled in the southern region.
Bene Israel: The largest group among Indian Jews, they settled in and around Maharashtra and Konkan.
Baghdadi Jews: This group, part of the most recent wave of Jewish migration, established communities in port cities like Calcutta, Bombay, and Rangoon.
Bnei Menashe: Settled in the North East, they are another significant segment of Indian Jews.

The migration of Indian Jews to Israel was not without challenges. Israeli society struggled to embrace them due to several factors:

Internal Divisions: The four Indian Jewish groups had substantial differences and disagreements among themselves. These internal divisions, combined with bias from Jews of European origin, complicated the reception of Indian Jews, especially in the initial years of migration.
Discrimination: The Bene Israel, primarily from Maharashtra, faced significant discrimination upon their arrival in Israel. Reports in the 1950s highlighted instances of racism and unequal treatment, including job and housing discrimination.
Differing Motivations: Indian Jews’ motivations for migrating varied. While the Cochin Jews were seen as driven by religious reasons, the Bene Israel were often perceived as seeking better economic prospects, leading to different treatment based on perceived motives.
Economic Disparities: The economic differences among the four groups fueled animosity. Some attributed the Cochin Jews’ messianic aspirations to poverty, while the Baghdadi Jews considered the Bene Israel as lacking proper religious traditions.