New German Citizens are Required to Affirm Israel’s Right to Exist
A new law regulating citizenship in Germany was recently introduced. Part of the precondition for gaining citizenship is for the applicant to declare that they accept Israel’s right to exist. The law, which came into force on Tuesday, also cuts the time needed to qualify for a German passport from eight to five years and allows first-ethnic German immigrants to be dual citizens.
Under the new law, several new questions will appear in the test for applicants, including those related to antisemitism, the existence of the state of Israel, Jewish life in modern Germany, etc. On Tuesday, the German interior ministry was called to confirm that the said subjects would be included in the test.
“New test questions are about antisemitism, right of the state of Israel to exist and Jewish life in Germany today – Interior Ministry. ”
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser emphasized the balance between inclusivity and upholding national values: “Any effort in this regard ultimately means that whereas under the old law one had to renounce a part of one’s identity by parting with the previous nationality for the prospect of never being able to get a German passport in the foreseeable future, today everybody aspiring to become a German citizen can achieve this goal much faster. ”
The citizenship test introduced questions referring to Germany’s historical obligation to the Jewish population and the crimes of the Nazi regime and another concerning the state of Israel.
The passing of this law occurred at the same time that Das Erste published a report stating that the German education ministry has lists of professors who are no longer welcome to the government’s view of Gaza, which may impact their future research funding.
However, last week, a junior minister in charge of higher education, Sabine Doring, resigned on Thursday after exploring ways to slash grants for the academics who endorsed a letter supporting pro-Palestine student sit-ins. This litigation also included emails in which Das Erste stated that the ministry had contemplated pulling funding out of these signatories. Doring later explained that the ministry had done internal searches to determine whether something was unlawful, but they also did not contemplate removing funds.
Germany’s Relationship with Israel
According to the country’s economy ministry, Germany remains one of Israel’s largest weapons suppliers, with equipment and weapons sales totaling €326.5 million ($353.7 million) last year.
Since October, when Israel launched the war in Gaza, it became apparent that Germany expects restrictions on acts of solidarity with the Palestinian people in their battle against the Israelis. It involves the freezing of the account of a Jewish anti-Zionist organization, the withdrawal of the invitations extended to Palestinian speakers and writers, the prohibiting of demonstrations, and stringent measures regarding what can be said by demonstrators and advocates.
Last month, Ghassan Abu Sittah, a British-Palestinian surgeon, was barred from entering Germany to attend an event regarding Palestine. The very congress, the Palestine Congress, was ended by the hundreds of plain-clothes officers who demanded several persons to be arrested.
This new law on citizenship and what it signifies portrays the many-faceted nature of Germany’s handling of its past sins, present alignments, and domestic policies on freedom of speech and academic freedom.
