Return of the Native
Eli Groner is not the first to give up his American citizenship in order to return here as an Israeli diplomat. As a teenager in Binghamton, NY, he made aliyah with his family and came back for graduate studies at NYU, before returning to Israel. Now he is headed back to the United States.
He is not unique in giving up his American citizenship; some recent examples include:
Michael Oren, a New York native and graduate of Columbia and Princeton universities, is Israel's current ambassador to the United States. Former UN envoy Dore Gold, is a native of Hartford, CT, and also a Columbia graduate. My former AIPAC colleague, Lenny Davis, made aliyah and returned as Lenny Ben-David to be the number two at the Israeli embassy during the first Netanyahu government.
What sets Groner apart from most is the eloquent statement he submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv this summer renouncing his citizenship in order to become Israel's economic attache in Washington. Read it here.