26 Feb 2023; MEMO: There has been an increase in the number of Israelis seeking to obtain foreign passports in order to relocate overseas because Israel is no longer a viable option according to Israel's Channel 12 on Friday.
One expert was quoted by the broadcaster as saying: "More Israelis are afraid of what is happening, and there is an increase in the percentage of applications for foreign nationality," adding that "people in Israel are preparing the ground for emigration" as they look to resettle elsewhere and where they can transfer their funds.
The report comes days after former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in an interview with Channel 12, warned that the country is facing the prospects of a "civil war" breaking out amid mass protests against the Israeli government's proposed judicial reforms. Separately, Bennett told Army Radio: "We are at the most dangerous point I can remember in this country's history. We are at this point because two segments of our nation are very alarmed."
The protests have escalated to some demonstrators preventing coalition MKs from leaving their homes on Monday, while special Israeli police units have been tasked with monitoring anti-government activists amid heightened fears of a potential political assassination being carried out.
The rise in Israelis applying for alternative passports, also coincides with an increase in resistance operations in Jerusalem and the occupied-West Bank in response to the growing number of deadly raids in Palestinian territories being carried out by the Israeli military.
