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Israelis open up about why they renounced citizenship

785 Israelis renounced their citizenship in 2014, a 65 percent increase; reasons given include money, ideology, and corruption.

In 2014, there was a 65 percent increase in the number of Israelis – 785 – who chose to renounce their citizenship. Ynet spoke with Israelis who made the life-changing decision to find out what motivated them.  

 

 

Sharon, 41, of Tel Aviv, lives in Israel today, but renounced his citizenship in 2005 and has never renewed it. He lived in Germany for 13 years before returning for love. "I don't want Israeli citizenship because it doesn't give me anything," he said, explaining that as a permanent resident, he has all of the same rights, save for voting.

 

Berlin, Germany
Berlin, Germany

 

"What motivated the cancellation of my Israeli citizenship then was my lack of desire to do reserve duty in Israel and lack of desire to contribute to Israel," he said. "I gave up citizenship for ideological reasons and out of consideration of personal security. Life here is unreasonable compared to other places in the Western world. The stress and lack of respect between people have their effects.

 

"I have no problem paying taxes. Taxation was high in Germany, like in Israel, but there you're compensated for it. They have public transportation and you can get around there without a car. In Israel, it's not only impossible to get around using public transportation, you also have a car and pay 200 percent tax on it."

 

He also expressed anger about the cost of living in Israel, recalling that in Germany, he could spend 30 euros in a supermarket and have enough products to last for a week. "The corruption in Israel makes you feel like no one is protecting you," he added. "There's no responsibility and people don't know how to take responsibility."

 

Sharon said his coworkers, friends, and everyone else knew about the step he had taken. "Lots of them actually respond by saying 'good for you', 'I wish I could do it', 'Why don't you go back?'"

 

Israeli passport (Photo: shutterstock)
Israeli passport (Photo: shutterstock)

 

Jonathan Hassan, 31, originally from Jerusalem, has lived in Australia for two years and recently began the process of renouncing his Israeli citizenship. He said he left Israel to have a better quality of life.

 

"I left Israel because I was working more than 260 hours a month in order to get a lousy allowance that barely covered rent, food, gas, and the other necessities," Jonathan recalled. "No luxuries, no going out, nothing. Who could even dream of buying an apartment in the next decade? Add to that the security situation, which is at rock-bottom, and the daily pressures, and we had inferior lives.

 

"When you see the level of corruption in Israel, you realize that slavery did not end in Egypt. It just moved to Israel. Australia is indeed much more expensive than Israel, but salaries are higher too. Quality of life in Australia is priceless."

 

Data showed that most of the requests to renounce citizenship were received by Israelis living in Germany, the US, Austria, the UK and the Netherlands.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.05.15, 00:19
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