Swearing loyalty to another flag
Photo: Oren Agmon
2005: 808 Israelis cede citizenship
808 Israelis chose to relinquish citizenship in 2005, some for pragmatic, others for ideological reasons
About 808 Israelis requested to relinquish their citizenship in 2005, according to Interior Ministry statistics, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday.
Most citizens chose to renounce their citizenship in order to be granted citizenship from the country where they are currently residing.
In most cases, they are immigrants from the former Soviet republics who left Israel after receiving their citizenship and the benefits included in the 'absorption basket' they were given upon arrival to Israel.
Some of these former immigrants seek to surrender their Israeli citizenship in order to evade large debts they have left behind, mostly for unpaid mortgages.
Applications for giving up citizenship have also been submitted by residents of countries that do not allow double citizenship, including the United States, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Russia and Holland.
Unhappy with the climate
Some of the requests to relinquish Israeli citizenship were motivated by more complex reasons.
One Israeli woman who moved to the U.S. explained in her application that she was no longer willing to be a citizen of a state that commits war crimes against the Palestinians.
Another applicant said she was burdened by the heavy taxes in the country, and therefore decided to move to Germany.
And, not surprisingly, there was also someone who explained that he left Israel to reside in Eastern Europe because he just could not bear the local climate.
The Interior Ministry does not hinder those who wish to cede their citizenship, and does not demand any explanation for their decision.
The only two conditions for granting such a request are that the person who submitted it is also a resident of another country and about to be granted citizenship there, and that the person has no existing debts in Israel.
