EU Passport Gets Popular in Israel [View All]

[Scurrilous]

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1273065_1_A,00.html

More Israelis with European ancestry are applying for EU passports since the union's enlargement in May. Some see the burgundy-colored document as an insurance policy should the conflict in the Middle East escalate.

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"Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's recent appeal to French Jews to leave their home country and emigrate to Israel was harshly criticized by French government officials -- and they weren't the only ones.
French Jews themselves were unhappy about Sharon's statement, fearing that anti-Semitic attacks would increase as a result.

One of the reasons behind the call to come to Israel is Sharon's concern that Israel's population is declining while Palestinians grow in numbers.

That trend is bound to continue now that many Israelis have become eligible for an EU passport following the bloc's eastward expansion on May 1."

<snip>

"Since EU enlargement, every fifth Israeli is eligible to receive an EU passport: people who come from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic or one of the 22 other EU countries and escaped the Nazis or survived the Holocaust. Their descendants are often also entitled to EU citizenship."