renouncing your “israeli” citizenship

a short guide and personal experiences

disclaimer: we are not lawyers and this is not legal advice.

the official "israeli" website details the documents you need to submit your application:1. your "Israeli" I.D. or passport2. Filled out form
available on the website, for ease you can find it here in hebrew or here in english (these are both from official websites, but good to confirm before you use them)3. a letter of explanation detailing your reasoning4. evidence that you are:
a. a citizen of another country or you’re going to get foreign citizenship after giving up your Israeli citizenship
b. a resident of another country5. evidence that you have no obligations regarding military service if:
a. you're a man between 18 and 29
b. you're an unmarried woman between 18 and 28
c. you left Israel between 15 and 18
d. you're a doctor up to 38

The application has to be submitted in person at an “Israeli” consulate or embassy, or a Population and Immigration Authority office.

As of January 1, 2024, the current cost of the application is 385 NIS (about $107 USD). While it might feel like you would be crossing the BDS line in doing this, it is an unfortunate aspect that cannot be avoided in order to take this step.

what to expect at your appointment

you will be asked some security questions on the way in, and you might also have to go through some additional screening like metal detector and an a x-ray machine for your belongings.if you've engaged with any bureaucratic office, there are the usual things you can expect: inefficient, slow customer service. based on your reason for being in there, you might expect some more intense behavior from the clerks. intimidation and getting you flustered or unsure of yourself will be a potential part of the process. stand your ground, stay calm, keep pushing to submit.Depending on your location, some additional requirements might be necessary (for example, in Canada you are required to go through an interview with the Shin Bet, “Israel”’s internal security service).

what happens next?

once your application is submitted, it is then sent to the zionist entity, and you will need to reach out to the embassy/consulate to check on the status. it might take a few weeks to a few months.if they confirm the application has been approved, you will need to return to submit whatever "israeli" documents you have in your possession, and you will receive a certificate.

considerations and suggestions based on our experiences

scheduling your appointment
you will need to schedule your appointment weeks if not months in advance. when scheduling your appointment, you will be prompted to choose the reason. while "renunciation" is an option, it might be preferable to choose a different reason like notary services.preparing your documents
be as prepared as possible. this might include:
- bringing copies of all pages of your "israeli" passport
- bringing proof you do not have military obligations, even if you do not fit the criteria. If you have an “Israeli” official I.D., you might be able to obtain a digital document here. Otherwise, you might have to engage with the consulate on the matter.
- there are no specifics given about the letter requirements. in fact, we know of one successful applicant who didn't even submit one.Safety considerations:
- Have people accompany you (they might not be able to come inside with you, but can be supportive outside), or have a group chat with folks you trust when going
- Do not bring too many things with you (check the official website for details on what is allowed inside)
- Do not post about the action prior to the appointment
- Create some digital safety prior: use encrypted messaging apps like Signal, have a password manager, etc. to safeguard your important logins and information

publicizing your action

we do believe that going public about this action is an important aspect. it impacts zionist hasbara, and shows others who might be in your position the possibility of taking this action. based on your level of comfort, you could post about it yourself, or you could also reach out to us and we can help you figure out how to go about it or share the news for you.keep in mind, the most important thing is that you are able to submit your application, so do not post about it prior! rather, share the news after you've already submitted the application.that being said, this is not an opportunity to center yourself or cash a check. utilize this action to damage zionist propaganda, not to build your platform. if you need more guidance on your role as an anti-zionist jew, you can refer to this guide by the good shepherds collective and em cohen.

personal experiences

nadav
i initially scheduled an appointment at the new york city consulate in september 2023, for November 2023, the earliest dates available. i have been meaning to submit my application for a while, and i needed to update my martial status in order to do, which required getting my marriage certificate signed with the county clerk and an apostille. i submitted that in the summer (took a bit of logistics), and wanted to confirm that process went through before scheduling my appointment, as i did not want to create any potential issues that might give them cause not to accept the application. they told me it will take two months, so i checked with them in september that my status has been updated, and proceeded to schedule my appointment for renunciation.i confirmed my appointment for renunciation for november 6 a week prior. the morning of, i received a notification that the appointment was cancelled due to a "safety incident". after emailing back and forth with them, i was able to schedule a new appointment for November 20. i didn't notice it at the time, but the system actually scheduled me for the next day instead. when i arrived, they said i did not have an appointment that day. i showed them the emails offering me a spot that day, and they allowed me to go upstairs and have my appointment.i created a signal group chat with some friends, and one of them actually walked with me to the building. i kept them up to date with what was going on.the new york consulate customer service area is quite large with many staffers. the first staffer i interacted with was matter-of-fact in their conversations with me. as they reviewed my documents, they involved more and more people, some were glaring at me through the glass (this is where still taking covid precautions is great because a mask is your friend!). eventually, they rejected my application because i did not have my military status documents (i was relieved from service for medical reasons at time of enlisting), despite the fact that i do not fall under the criteria that requires it. i was flustered, and unfortunately did not stand my ground or show them the official website, which might have helped pushing it through and getting it submitted then.since i am no contact with my parents, i do not have access to any documents that i have left back with them, including my "israeli" i.d. with family complications, in order to obtain my letter of exemption, i had to retain a lawyer to try and get the military exemption records. that included more trips to apostille to get the documents the lawyer needed. luckily, the lawyer was able to obtain that document.i then worked with a friend to schedule our new appointments together (this is a new friend who i connected with after my letter went viral). at this time, the new york consulate is "under renovations", and so we had to schedule an appointment at the embassy in washington d.c. instead. this time, we chose "notary services" or other generic reasons to make our appointments. similar to the original appointments, they had to be made some time in advance. we scheduled our appointments back to back.our d.c. appointments were scheduled for march 27. we drove in the night before, since all appointments in d.c. are only available in the morning. as of now, there is a protest encampment outside the embassy. when going in, we tried to not engage with them as not to raise any suspicions or issues that would prevent us from going in. we went inside, and answered some security questions, went through the metal detector and our items were scanned in the x-ray machine. we were asked about the reason why we are there, and said "notary services". we also chose to not have our phones with us as the embassy website says they are not allowed, and we were asked how we got there and how will we get picked up (we agreed on a pick up time with our friend).the d.c. embassy services only has two windows. we decided to sit down together when my appointment time came up, and submitted our forms together. the encampment was blasting sirens outside that were so loud inside the office. it took a bit of time, but the person we were dealing with was matter-of-fact.in the official form, you need to provide a detailed grounds for the waiver of citizenship. i kept what i wrote back in november: Israel is a genocidal ethnostate and it is my moral and ethical obligation to renounce my citizenship and support the Palestinian liberation. My full letter of explanation is attached. as for my letter, i opted for a short letter of explanation this time:

they told us that the application gets sent to "israel", and that it will take about three months, and we would need to check in with the embassy on the final step (the submitting of any "israeli" documents we have and getting the certificate). we paid the fee, got our receipts, and left.outside, our friend was informing the encampment of the reason we were there, so we got a warm embrace in the cold rain. they also asked to interview us for social media.we now await the decision!

yuula
i scheduled my appointment at the consulate in toronto on october 17, 2023 to the next available date, which was nov 14, 2023. you have to specify a reason when you make an appointment online, i chose “citizenship” under “consular services”. i downloaded the form from the consulate website, filled it out and printed it. in the place where they asked to explain the reason for the renunciation i wrote “i have no intention of ever living there again and want to start using only my canadian passport for all travel.” there was no request for a letter of explanation or anything beyond the two lines i was given for “reasons for renouncing”. i prepared my passport and photocopies of the exemption card since i couldn’t locate the original.in the month preceding my appointment i tried to find information on the actual process of renoucing and what i should expect at the consulate, but there was little to no information available online. i eventually found out that a filmmaker in my community renounced a decade ago, and when i approached them they generously explained the process to me in detail. i also found 2 people who made public statements on their renunciations, and i contacted one of them, a psychotherapist and writer in glasgow. her quick and encouraging response made me confident that it was the right thing and whatever happens at the consulate can’t be so bad that it would stop me from going through with it. lastly, the week before my appointment i read about a person from nyc whose appointment was cancelled after they made their renunciation letter public on twitter prior to the date. so i decided to keep quiet until i was able to submit my application.i wrote a statement to read after my appointment and my friends organized a small support group of friends to wait outside, including someone to document me reading my statement. on the day of the appointment i showed up right on time. i made sure to leave everything with my friends: tote bag, phone, water, wallet, sportswatch. with me i only brought my filled out form, 2 more copies of the form, blank, in case i made a mistake, my passport, photocopies of my military exemption card and a debit card.i entered the consulate in toronto from the north east side stairs. there was an intercom i buzzed, it had a camera. the person on the other side asked to see my ID and asked me the usual questions: “did anyone pass anything to you to bring here today, do you have a phone or wallet or any electronics? etc…” i said no, and they asked me to wait. within 3 minutes a shin bet (security service) agent was downstairs for an “interview” before i could be let into the consulate. i showed him my passport and military exemption and after the usual security questions this was the conversation:how did you get here today?
i biked.
did you come alone?
no, my boyfriend came with me.
where is he?
waiting outside.
what is his full name?
xxxx xxxxxxxxx
what nationality is he?
canadian
where was he born?
in canada
does he have any other nationalities?
no.
why are you here today?
to renounce my citizenship.
what?! why?
because i have no plans to live there, and i don’t want to carry that passport anymore.
why?
it’s better for me to not have that passport anymore when i travel. i only want to travel with my canadian passport from now on.
why? what is the problem?
that’s what i want.
ok. where is your boyfriend?
waiting outside. with my friends.
okat that point he walked away and motioned me to wait, and within about 30 seconds 3 more agents came downstairs and went outside. i got worried since he didn’t tell me what was going on but instead spoke into his earpiece. After a few minutes the other agents came back and one took me upstairs in the elevator while the other agents stayed downstairs. upstairs i went through the metal detector and my jacket was scanned by the xray machine and i was allowed in. the office was empty of visitors and i was able to see a clerk right away. they took my forms and ID, asked me to sign something and then motioned towards the debit terminal where i paid $140 cad. my head was buzzing from the interaction with the shin bet so i’m blanking on the questions the clerk asked but i remember them asking me whether i have savings there or owe any debts. i don’t. they gave me a receipt and said “wait about 3 months and you will have to come back here to return your passport and any other ID cards, and then the renunciation is complete.” when i came back outside, my friends hugged me and i read my statement. i kept looking back thinking someone was watching us but no one was. my friend said that shortly after i walked in, a couple of people in suits and with earpieces came outside, observed them briefly, and then left.i received an email 2 months later saying that the renunciation is complete and that i should come in to return my documents. after a weeks long back and forth with the clerk i made an appointment for the next available date and came in with my passport. that time the shin bet interview was very short and uneventful and i was able to go into the consulate. after a long wait it was my turn to see the clerk and i handed over my documents. they took them and then had a 5 minute long conversation with their colleagues… then they returned to me and asked me for the original copy of my exemption card. i said i didn’t have it anymore, and they handed me 2 copies of an official document that confirms that i have ceased being a citizen on december 5, 2023, three weeks after submitting my application. i took it and left.

Jude
My initial appointment was in late january at 11:30 am at the consulate in Toronto. I don't speak Hebrew so a couple of trusted friends and allies translated the documentation for me. One close friend came with me for moral support and to back me up during those first interactions with security personnel. I did not expect this to be nessisary but i am glad I did it. We sat on the bench next to a stand-alone intercom with a camera. we made jokes about how these IOF jackasses are always late, we talked about each other's families and she held my hand. 20 mins after my scheduled appointment time, a tall skinny white woman with a blond ponytail and curly earpiece greeted us. They had a conversation in hebrew that i couldnt understand before telling my fiend that it was time for her to leave, at first she was all smiles. Once i was alone, the questions intensified andWhat was most unnerving is that most of the interrogating or orders i was given about what to do with my body or where to go next happened through various intercoms, rather than an actual person. After the initial series of questions I had over the intercom, questions that pried into my personal life (friends names, ethnicities, where I met my friends, name sof my cousins and my relationship to my dad), i was getting the sense that they had the impression that i was being somehow manipulated or coerced by my friends, whom they racialised. From the very start, i felt like they were trying to pit my against, i told them i met these friends through activism and they asked what kind of activism and i tried hard not to name the specific organisations but felt terrible when i did name a few friends who were worried about being spied on or their reputations or student-status revoked. I experienced an AIT alarm in the groin area that was apparently caused by my being transgender and wearing a chest binder. I can imagine no other reason for this alarm to have occurred just at the top button of my jeans, as there was no foreign object there, just my own body. I accidentally had my phone in my pocket when i told the security people i didnt have anything on me.I assumed this threw them off and that is why I did not end up being asked to go upstairs that day. They told me i was to come back the following week. I avoided thinking about it.They re-booked and canceled my appointment several times, drawing out the process. the more suspicious they were of me, the more nervous i became. It was only the last time i was there, that I was actually taken upstairs to the now abandoned consular office. I can only describe it as dystopian. The propaganda “bring them home now” posters were plastered on the wall in front of the elevator doors. I was scared and immediately wanted to leave but before I could try to go back, a man’s voice on a nearby intercom gave me orders on where in the room to go next, giving me no explanation as to what or who was waiting for me. I was eventually told to walk into a cramped room, and close the door shut behind me. In the room, there was a metal detector and a conveyor belt for shoes and jackets, like in the airport. There were also two chairs and another door in the back corner. On another intercom in the room, I followed the next set of orders from the man, now I could hear other voices too, speaking to each other in Hebrew, sometimes laughing (I wasn't sure if at me) in the background of the call. I was told to take my shoes off and put them in the bin with my papers, then to walk through the metal detector like you do in the airport security. Then, he told me to wait. About ten minutes later, unannounced, the same blond woman and the two big hairy men came through the door. Only the woman talked to me but the men were staring at me intensely the whole time. The woman seemed too friendly, she asked me questions mostly about my family, about why I wanted to distance myself from them, and about my binder, why i was wearing one. In addition to the metal detector i walked through, she said she had to scan my body with the hand-held wand and give me a pat-down. There was unnecessary attention drawn to my pants, in the groin area, I was too intimidated by everything to ask why this was necessary. she was growing frustrated by me, she said that it was the wand that was broken. I felt like I had done something wrong.It was hard to tell if she was talking to me then or into her earpiece. She looked nervous and said that she had to scan me under my pants and that to do this, I would go just with her this time in the room next door and take off my pants. The man behind her was staring at me, i felt like even if i had no voice and had nowhere to escape to if i wanted to leave. Some people i have talked to have told me that taking off my pants was a choice that I had, that i had the option of saying no to this. Even the security woman asked me if I was sure I wanted to renounce my citizenship when she watched me burst into tears before doing what she asked.

questions?

we are working on an educational piece to accompany this guide, where we hope to address questions and provide more context for this action.