clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Israelis renouncing citizenship up by 60% in 2014

January 4, 2015 at 12:41 pm

The number of Israelis who renounced their citizenship rose by 60 per cent in 2014, compared to 2013, according to figures collected by the Israeli authorities.

In 2014, 765 Israeli citizens requested to renounce their citizenship, compared to 478 a year earlier, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing data collected by Israel’s Administration of Border Crossings, Population, and Immigration and Israeli embassies abroad.

The paper said that one of the main reasons cited in the applications included the unwillingness to hold a dual citizenship while others said they do not want to be subject to the Israeli passport or don’t see themselves living in Israel anymore.

Most of the requests were received in Germany, United States, Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom, the figures showed.

Around eight million people currently live inside Israel, with Arab citizens accounting for roughly 20 percent of them, according to official Israeli figures.

Around 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank built since Israel occupied the region along with East Jerusalem in 1967. The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, to establish their future state.