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They are one of the 10  lost tribes of Israel, written in Jewish lore as having fled the homeland for India in an exodus 2,700 years ago, and only months ago having been welcomed back into the fold, when Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi accepted their legitimacy.

But in a twist of fate swayed by political and religious lobbying, and the interests of the arms trade, the good fortune that was about to bring the roughly 9,000 Bnei Menashes of northeast India back to their spiritual heartland has suddenly soured.

Strained relations between Israel and New Delhi have scuppered plans for their repatriation.

Apparently acting on pressure from Indian officials, Israel's foreign ministry last week ordered the chief rabbi to stop converting the Indian tribe to Judaism.

Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who in March said he recognised the Bnei Menashes, two months ago sent a rabbi's court to India to convert the mainly impoverished tribe, giving them hope of a new life in Israel.

About 220 Bnei Menashes were converted in the northeastern states of Mizoram  and Manipur  in September, and the remaining members of the tribe were eagerly awaiting their turn when Israel halted conversions last week.

'The continuation of the conversion activity in the same manner as it is being done today can harm our good relationship with India,' said Amos Nadai, the deputy director-general for Asia and the Pacific in the Israeli foreign ministry.   'India is intolerant of conversion activities on its territory, but it has no objection against the tribe members immigrating to Israel.'

Mark Regev, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman,  said Indian authorities had indicated strongly that they  were opposed to the conversion of the Bnei Menashes.  'When the Indian government issued a complaint against it [the Jewish conversion activities in India] we took it seriously,' Mr Regev said. 'At the moment there is a freeze on all such conversions taking place.'

Analysts believe Israel was  forced to act  because it  can't afford to strain its relationship with the  country to which it sells US$2 billion of Israeli weapons systems each year.

About 800 Bnei Menashes have so far immigrated to Israel and most  are  living in  Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Mizoram is a predominantly Christian state while Hindus are in majority in Manipur. Many Bnei Menashe community leaders believe pressure from some Christian and Hindu groups  led to India's complaint.

'Churches raised voices of dissent when  we were accepted as a lost tribe of Israel,' said one Bnei Menashe leader in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram.

'We are convinced that Christian leaders in India used their best connection to influence the Indian government to put pressure on Israel to stop the conversion.

'From the state governments of Mizoram and Manipur also, there was tremendous pressure on New Delhi  against all conversion-related activities,' said the leader who preferred to remain anonymous.

Although Israel's foreign ministry said members of the tribe could still be converted to orthodox Judaism in Israel, the ban on conversions on Indian territory  has  depressed many Indian Bnei Menashes, who believe emigrating to Israel would be difficult unless they were first converted.  Last week, synagogue leaders in Mizoram and Manipur told  Bnei Menashe followers that  leaders of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based group that has been trying to locate lost Jews, had assured them members could  move to Israel even if they had not yet been converted.

'We should not lose hope. We are already recognised as lost descendants of ancient Israelites,' said Lyon Fanai, a Bnei Menashe community leader in Aizawl.

'We all will be converted in Israel. Soon, the Israel's foreign ministry will send a green signal for all Bnei Menashes to immigrate to Israel, we have been told by our friends in Israel. There's nothing to worry about.'

But most Bnei Menashe youths seem worried.

Khaiminlal Yigal, a young synagogue leader in Manipur, said: 'If we could get converted to Orthodox Judaism in India, we could win the right of Aliyah [return to Israel].

'Now being without Aliyah the emigration will be difficult - it may take  years.'

Despite following many Jewish customs,  Bnei Menashes - formerly animists - embraced Christianity when missionaries went to northeast India in the 19th century.

Church leaders in the area voiced dissent recently because Bnei Menashe Christians were leaving churches for  synagogues.

Aizawl-based Christian theologist  P.C. Biaksama  said  the Bnei Menashes never came from Israel.  Although the conversions 'threatened Christianity in the region', he denied Christian leaders  had complained to the government.

Ajay Nandi,  a right-wing Hindu leader in Calcutta, said: 'If the Bnei Menashes are allowed to be converted in India so freely, soon missionaries will start organising open Christian conversion ceremonies targeting the Hindus.

'The Indian government took the right step to act against the Jewish conversions in India.'

Any conversion-related activity was  sensitive in India and the government watched it closely, said an officer in India's internal security ministry in Delhi.

'Conversion to Christianity in Hindu-majority India often breeds religious tension, which sometimes snowballs into a bigger crisis, denting India's image internationally,' he said. 'Already, leaders from other communities have been expressing  resentment [against the Jewish conversions].

'The government probably didn't want to take any risk and decided to  complain to Israel.'

The ban on conversions comes after church leaders said  some jobless Manipuri Hindu  men, who had no connection with the Bnei Menashes, were  trying to become  involved with synagogues in a bid to get converted to Judaism.

'There is no doubt that the Bnei Menashe youths, including those Meitei  [Hindus in Manipur] boys are queuing up for conversion [to Orthodox Judaism] simply to be guaranteed a passport of Israel,' said L. Thanguur, a church leader in Manipur.

'They are economic refugees. If they had better employment and income prospects here, they would have never dreamed of going to Israel and jostled for this conversion.'

Although the Bnei Menashes in India are recognised as Jews and have been following Jewish customs for  years, they need to be converted  because they have not been following Orthodox Judaism as practised in Israel.

There are up to two million Bnei Menashes living in the hilly regions of Burma and northeast India, according to Shavei Israel.

According to Jewish tradition, after an Assyrian invasion around 722BC 10 tribes from Israel were enslaved in Assyria. Later, the tribes  wandered through Afghanistan, Tibet and China - before settling around northeast India and Myanmar around AD100.



Conversion row strands Israel's lost tribe in the wilderness