 David Rahabi, an Indian Jew, found the Bene Israel in the 18th century and took note of their Jewish customs.Some historians note that the ancestors of the Bene Israel belonged to one of the Lost Tribes of Israel; however, Jewish authorities have not officially recognized the Bene Israel as one of the Lost Tribes.In 1964 the Israeli Rabbinate ruled that the Bene Israel are "full Jews in every respect".