http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3566967,00.html
The return to Germany
Over past five years,
increasing number of Israelis
have been requesting German pass****ts
Daniel Bettini
Published: 7.11.08, 16:41 / Israel News
For many years,
German emigrants in Israel cast away
the country in which their parents and
relatives suffered. Cars, appliances
and even trips to their country of
origin were out of the question.
However,
Israelis' view of Germany has
changed fundamentally in recent
years, and the drizzle of Israelis
seeking German pass****ts has become
a real flood.
Data received from the German Embassy
in Israel shows that since 2003 there
has been a rise in the number of
Israelis requesting a German pass****t.
A total of close to 30,000 people of
German descent turned to the German
Embassy and most of them received their
requested pass****t after only two weeks.
While the number of Israelis requesting
German citizen****p is on the rise,
the amount of Israelis submitting their
requests at the German Embassy in
Israel has declined.
Overall, 11,168 have requested
naturalization over the past five years.
It should be noted that the German
Embassy only denies one or two
percent of the requests.
Almost all of the pass****t appeals
are submitted by people with a German
background who in most cases lost
their German citizen****p due to
Nazi laws.
Such applicants have a much harder
time attaining a pass****t since numerous
amounts of do***entation proving their
right to citizen****p must be presented.
After Israeli citizens p***** the
naturalization process, they are
automatically eligible to submit
a request for a German pass****t.
In the future,
their children and their children's
children will become German citizens as well.
Attorney Dan Assan who assists Israelis
in receiving German citizen****p said
that the number of people requesting
German pass****ts is rising due to their
belief that it serves as an "insurance policy,"
a well-known phenomenon after a crisis such as
the Second Lebanon War.
However, Assan said that most applicants
want a German pass****t also because of
the benefits given to European Union
residents.
In addition the lawyer said that the
entitlement for German citizen****p is
"not according to birthplace but rather
according to citizen****p.
For this reason, not all
German-born Israelis are eligible.
There are some German Israelis whose
parents immigrated to Germany from
Eastern Europe because of economic
reasons and were not granted citizen****p,
and this is why they are not eligible."
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