Paper long abstract:

My research examines Israeli citizens' applications for a second citizenship from countries belonging to the EU. These applications for ‘European Passports’, which have become increasingly common and widely desired in recent years, are made by persons who do not intend to leave Israel. Therefore, they don’t simply fall under terms such as 'Mobility' or 'Immigration'. However, they do create the opportunity for these, and thereby offer an interesting perspective on what may be referred to as 'imagined mobility'.

In this paper, I will explore the meanings of this ‘imagined mobility’. As I will show, by creating an ability to leave, or rather, a possibility not to stay, these citizenships represent an active reexamination of Israeli citizenship and national identity. This shifting perception of what it means to be ‘Israeli’, reflects a change in historical and political understandings of both Israel and Europe, further complicating their role within the Israeli national narrative of salvation.