New German citizens required to affirm Israel's right to exist

Applicants for German citizenship will be required to explicitly affirm Israel's right to exist under a new citizenship law which came into effect on Tuesday. 

The new law shortened the number of years that a person must have lived in Germany in order to obtain a passport, from eight to five years. It will also allow first-generation migrants to be dual citizens. 

As part of the shake-up, new questions were added to the country's citizenship test, including about Judaism and Israel's right to exist. 

“New test questions have been added on the topics of antisemitism, the right of the state of Israel to exist, and Jewish life in Germany,” the German interior ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

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