About 200 Israelis living abroad, most of them in the U.S., have asked the Interior Ministry to waive their Israeli citizenship, the Ministry announced today. They made the request because of the recent steep rise in the travel tax imposed on Israelis going abroad. The purpose is to discourage foreign travel and conserve currency.
Israelis living overseas said the new tax, which applies only to citizens, would make it difficult for them to make their periodic trips home. Each time they wanted to leave they would have to pay the travel tax which amounts to $150 plus 15 percent of the air fare.
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