As the reality of Brexit seeps in, some Brits of Jewish ancestry are finding an unexpected way to remain affiliated with the European Union — by applying for German citizenship. Following the June referendum, in which Britain voted to leave the European Union, applications for German citizenship have soared. At least 100 families or individuals…
Israel’s deputy interior minister said Arab-Israeli Knesset members who support efforts to break the naval blockade of Gaza should give up their Israeli citizenship and that “Israel is doing you a favor by letting you sit here.” Yaron Mazuz, a member of Likud, also said the lawmakers “should give back your (Israeli) identity cards. Mazuz…
The Spanish government is inching closer to providing an expedited path to citizenship for Sephardic Jews. The initiative, first proposed in November 2012, is expected to clear a major hurdle today, as the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported it would pass the lower house of the Spanish parliament. It must still be passed by the…
Spain’s King Juan Carlos / Getty Images If Juan Carlos didn’t entirely reconcile Spain and the Sephardic Jews, it wasn’t for lack of trying. The Spanish king announced his abdication this morning, 39 years into a reign that stands both as an argument for monarchy and an argument against it. Lionized for shepherding Spain through…
(JTA) — News that Spain is proposing to offer citizenship to the descendants of Jews expelled in the 15th and 16th centuries spread like wildfire in Israel. Within hours of the Spanish government’s announcement last month, the Israeli website Ynet published a list of family names supposedly eligible for citizenship that contained some obviously Ashkenazi…
(JTA) Israeli Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett said that Jews outside Israel “should have some sort of say” in the Israeli government’s affairs, and even suggested offering “semi-citizenship” to Diaspora Jews. The vague concept is related to the so far somewhat undefined $1 billion-plus project that has been picking up steam this week….
The conferring of Spanish citizenship to Sephardic Jews will be automatic and independent of the government’s discretion, the country’s justice minister told a delegation of American Jews. Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon made the pledge during a speech Thursday before dozens of members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. He was referring…
Will I apply? That’s what people are asking me today, as news circulates of the law the Spanish cabinet just approved to offer citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Two weeks ago, the Forward published a long essay I wrote about this citizenship offer, which the Spanish justice and foreign ministers first proposed in 2012. I went…
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