Successful Israelis relinquish citizenship
Interior Ministry reports 775 Israelis - mostly young, educated and well-to-do - chose to forego their Israeli citizenship in 2006. 'They are the cream of the crop, we would have liked to see them here,' official says
In 2006, 775 Israelis asked to relinquish their Israeli citizenship, a slight drop in comparison to 2005, when 808 Israelis chose to forego their citizenship.
The applicants were typically young, educated and well-to-do, and most of them reside in the United States, Germany, Australia, Britain and Holland.
According to the Interior Ministry, applicants usually choose to relinquish their Israeli citizenship in order to be granted citizenship in the country where they currently live, or due to their desire to receive security clearance in their place of work.
Dora Schwartz, head of the citizenship department at the Interior Ministry, said that "the Israelis who forego their citizenship are the cream of the crop of the State of Israel: Educated, young and successful."
"Unfortunately, the statistics show that many middle-class Israelis today prefer an American or European citizenship to an Israeli one," she added.
"This is a population we would have liked to see in the country. This is the generation of the future. We see what kinds of positions and jobs they receive abroad. For instance, they are required to relinquish their citizenship in order to work in Capitol Hill or serve in prestigious positions in the American military or the White House," Schwartz explained.
