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Over 1,000 Americans Serving in Israeli Army – Reports

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Israel currently has over 1,000 Americans serving in its military, according to Israeli Defense Force spokeswoman Lt. Libby Weiss as quoted by The Daily Beast.

MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - Israel currently has over 1,000 Americans serving in its military, according to Israeli Defense Force spokeswoman Lt. Libby Weiss as quoted by The Daily Beast.

This is possible thanks to Israel’s so-called right of return, which allows foreign-born Jews to serve in the Israeli military.

“They are not less American when they serve in the army. They are more American. They feel they protect the values of the place they came from, and they also protect the values of the state of Israel,” an Israeli official Maya Kadosh, the country's Houston-based deputy consul to the Southwest United States, was quoted as saying by The Daily Beast.

Israeli Army is not the only army open to Americans. Australia, New Zealand and France also have opportunities for US soldiers.

Likewise, the United States can allow foreigners into its military. Those joining the US Army are able to file for US citizenship and expect expedited treatment from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Prior to 1967, Americans risked losing their citizenship if they decided to join a foreign military. In 1967 citizenship was proclaimed a constitutional right that could not be taken away involuntarily. What remains illegal is recruiting in foreign military within the United States.

Americans are known to have joined foreign militaries throughout history. During World War I Americans joined the Canadian Army. During the 1930s, the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War was made up exclusively of Americans. By the time of Pearl Harbor, more than 6,000 Americans served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and 10,000 in the Canadian Army, according to Col. Stanley W. Dziuban.

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