Jerusalem – Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea soccer club who has found himself without a visa to Britain, took Israeli citizenship on Monday and will move to Tel Aviv where he has bought a property, an Israeli media report said.
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Abramovich has been counted as one of the richest men in Britain since he bought the English Premier League soccer club in 2003. His British visa expired last month and sources have told Reuters it was taking longer than usual to get it renewed. The British government has declined to comment on his case.
Abramovich, worth $12.5 billion according to the British press, instantly became the richest person in Israel Monday.
The Ynet website that belongs to Israel’s biggest selling daily, Yedioth Aharonoth, said Abramovich, who is Jewish, jetted into Tel Aviv on Monday and had received documents confirming his status as an Israeli citizen.
An Israeli immigration absorption ministry spokeswoman declined to comment on the report citing individual privacy but a spokeswoman for the Population Administration which oversees border control confirmed that Abramovich was in Israel.
A spokesman for Abramovich also declined to comment on the report.
Israel grants citizenship to any Jew wishing to move there, and a passport can be issued immediately. Israeli passport holders can enter Britain without a visa for short stays, although they require visas to work there.
Abramovich will have to explain the source of his wealth to receive the new visa, according to reports. There is no evidence that Abramovich has done anything wrong, but the United Kingdom has scrutinized Russian businesspeople and diplomats more carefully since the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England, in March. Several Russian diplomats were expelled following the incident.
Abramovich has been a regular visitor to Israel and Ynet said he had bought a property that was formerly a hotel, in an old Tel Aviv neighborhood close to the Mediterranean shore.
So the British prefer poor backwards Muslims from Somalia and Pakistan to smart rich jews?
Great that he has a Jewish heimlant to flee to. If not for Israel, this man would have to return to Russia, where Tsar Pootin put a price on his Yiddisha kopf. As there’s a price on Every Jew’s head, thank HaShem for ISRAEL.
Anyone know what business he’s in???
Mmmm….i wonder what shoes’ brand help was wearing when he got his first sal Kiya payment