8,308 Israelis renounced citizenship over past 12 years

An Israeli official report has revealed that 8,308 Israelis have renounced their citizenships in the past 12 years, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The report further reported that the year with the greatest number of Israelis who have become non-Israelis was last year.

749 persons gave up their passports and blue identity cards in 2015, versus a mere 470 in 2003.

This drastic increase, a rate of 18 percent, also held in relation to 2014, when 635 persons renounced Israeli citizenship.

The reasons for renouncing citizenship are varied.

Many of the applicants explained that they had to do so as a condition for receiving a foreign citizenship.

Others said that their lives were now based abroad and that they don't envisage themselves returning to Israel.

Still others said the law that requires them to enter Israel on their Israeli passports simply irks them.

The country whence the highest number of applications to renounce Israeli citizenship came was Germany, followed by the United States, Austria, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

In 2015 alone, 154 former Israelis in Germany renounced.