Let’s say I, a typical American of European ancestry, nominally Protestant Christian and of no particular Jewish heritage, decided it would be great to become a citizen of Israel. How welcome- or not- would I be?
Never been to Israel personally, but I have worked from the states pretty closely with some folks in Israel. They all had a solid understanding of American culture and norms, and were pretty cool in general.
Amusingly, my first interaction with those folks (we’re all IT guys) was at 5am my time on a weekend. The message: “we’re under attack from Saudi Arabia!” Imagine my relief to discover that it was just a suspicious botnet sourcing from IP addresses assigned to Saudi.
I assumed the OP was taking about how welcome, legally-speaking, would the immigration officials in Isreal make him ? What is their immigration and citizenship policy towards non-Jews (as I understand it they have pretty much no-exceptions policy towards allowing all Jewish immigrants).
It is also true that “The Law of Return” applies to those who have no Jewish identity but who even have a Jewish grandparent, the same definition that the Nazis used. Some of the religious and conservative parties have been upset over the large numbers of immigrants (often Russian) that they consider non-Jewish but who qualify under that ruling.
Nah. The complaints are not about the small minority of 8 out of a million; the complaints are about the larger number without a Jewish identity but allowed in under the “Law of Return.”
I’d heard of the phenomenon of young people (usually Russian as you’ve mentioned) of tenuous Jewish ancestry immigrating to Israel and then demonstrating neo-Nazi beliefs, but I didn’t know how common it was. Let’s hope it’s that rare.
This said, I do understand why some Israelis would dislike a large influx of people with very weak links to Jewish identity. This sort of thing can make integration difficult and change the culture of a country in major ways.
If I understand correctly, other than the law of return (which allows people with some Jewish ancestry to get Israeli citizenship without fulfilling all conditions), Israel, like many other countries, may grant citizenship to long-term residents who have some knowledge of the national language. Does anyone know if it’s common for non-Jews to become Israeli citizens in such a way, and how they are seen by other Israeli citizens?
Does this mean you cannot hold a dual citizenship? I was sure someone I no longer know once told me their parents were both dual Israel/American citizens, but I could be wrong.
It’s common for countries to require naturalized citizens to renounce all other allegiances, but I don’t know how closely they enforce this. Some countries don’t actually allow their citizens to renounce their citizenship, so strict enforcement would be unjust to them. And as for these dual Israeli/American citizens, it’s possible that they held both citizenships from birth and were never naturalized as Israeli citizens.
My understanding is that those who become citizens under the “Law of Return” have no need to renounce so for them it is no problem. The cite is discussing those who do not qualify thus. In that regard there is this FWIW:
I have no idea how often citizenship by naturalization occurs. Maybe one of our Israeli posters will have some information.
I know loads and loads of American citizens who naturalized as Israeli citizens and retained their American citizenship. I don’t think it’s a big deal.
If you’re not of Jewish descent, I don’t think becoming an Israeli citizen would be particularly easy. Unless you’re married to someone of Jewish descent, I think. I’ve never heard of someone even trying. Oh, except the Black Hebrews. They entered Israel illegally, but have worked something out with the Israeli government so they are now legal residents, and they serve in the army and everything.
I made aliyah (moved to Israel) 3 years ago, and I still have my American citizenship, as does everyone in my family. All of our neighbors who moved here long ago (20+ years) still have their American or Canadian or South African (or whatever) citizenships.
I continue to vote in American elections.
The best part about keeping my citizenship is that I can travel back to America on my American passport, so I don’t need to worry about getting a visa.
