Israelis look to Inquisition roots to get Portuguese passports
Danny Roup, Israel’s celebrity weatherman, does not necessarily see clouds on the geopolitical horizon. But he thought it was worth digging into his centuries-old family roots in order to get a Portuguese passport.
Roup is among thousands of Israelis who have embraced a citizenship offer by Portugal to descendants of Sephardi Jews who were expelled from the Iberian peninsula in 1492 and suffered persecution by the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal.
Some applicants want to move to Portugal, or use it as a stepping stone to the European Union’s educational and job opportunities. Others are seeking a reprieve from the turbulent Middle East.
“You can never know what will happen in this region in the next 20, 30, 40, 50, 100 years. So it’s always good to have another passport – especially if it’s a
European passport,” said Roup, 54.
Around 300,000 Jews lived in Spain when, in 1492, monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand ordered them and the country’s Muslims to convert to Catholicism or leave. Tens of thousands fled to Portugal, only to be persecuted there or expelled in 1497.
Portugal, which has seen a rise in applications since a similar citizenship offer to Sephardi Jews by Spain ended, describes its policy in terms of redress.
“Our history is a very important one but with certain shadows – and one of the most relevant shadows was forcing the Jews to abandon the country or to convert to Christianity,” Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva told Reuters.
“We lost a lot of our Jewish influence, and we are trying to retrieve this influence.”
The citizenship application takes around two years. Some 20% are approved.
Experts at one of Portugal’s Jewish centers, Lisbon or Porto, vet applicants’ genealogies and look for evidence of interest in Sephardi culture – for example, knowledge of the Judaeo-Spanish dialect Ladino.
Lisbon-based immigration lawyer Renato Martins said many of his Sephardi clients see the “investment potential” of a Portuguese passport, especially for real estate.
Silva said that most of the 44,000 applications received since the Portuguese offer opened in 2015 have been from Israel.
Roup says the citizenship could help his children, who can apply as adults. (Reuters)