Germany will require those applying for a passport to affirm they believe that Israel has a right to exist.
The country’s new citizenship law goes into effect this week as part of a promise by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to accelerate the time needed for dual citizens to receive a passport.
As part of the reforms, a new question will ask applicants if they believe Israel has a right to exist. It comes as part of an overhaul to emphasize German values and protect Jewish life in a nation where it was once most at risk.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said “anyone who shares our values and makes an effort can now get a German passport more quickly and no longer has to give up part of their identity by giving up their old nationality.”
She stated that “we have also made it just as clear: Anyone who does not share our values cannot get a German passport. We have drawn a crystal-clear red line here and made the law much stricter than before.”
Other expressions of German values that the application requires include beliefs in gender equality and democracy, as well as recognition of Germany’s defense of the Jewish people following World War II and the Holocaust.
