May 10, 2012 | 12:12 pm

Israeli Passport Should be Granted to Michele Bachmann in addition to her Swiss Passport,

Posted by Pini Herman

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An Israeli passport should be granted to Michele Bachmann in addition to her Swiss passport which she obtained in 1978.  She did live on a kibbutz as a teen after graduating high school.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was facing a challenge last year : He was having having trouble raising money from some Jewish donors who mistakenly believed one of his opponents, Michele Bachmann,was Jewish.  Of course when when the “man” at the end of her surname is spelled “mann” it’s clear she belongs to the Christian far right.

But Bachmann is engaged in a Jewish pastime, collecting passports.  According to the Pew Center’s Faith on the Move study 25 percent of all Jews are living in countries that they weren’t born in.  The majority of foreign born Jews are now living in Israel.  Ironically, of native born Israelis, Sabras, only 4 percent, or 330,000 are living outside of Israel.

A 2009 survey by the Jerusalem-based Menachem Begin Heritage Center reportedly found that 59% of Israelis had approached or intended to approach a foreign embassy to ask for citizenship and a passport.

Like Bachmann, most Israelis, as reported in the Begin Heritage Center study, wouldn’t consider leaving their country of residence. Only 22% of Israelis reportedly acknowledged actually considering leaving the country for even a limited period of time.

Pini Herman, PhD. has served as Asst. Research Professor at the University of Southern California Dept. of Geography,  Adjunct Lecturer at the USC School of Social Work,  Research Director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles following Bruce Phillips, PhD. in that position (and author of the “most recent” 15 year old study of the LA Jewish population which was the third most downloaded study from Berman Jewish Policy Archives in 2011) and is immediate past President of the Movable Minyan a lay-lead independent congregation in the 3rd Street area. Currently he is a principal of Phillips and Herman Demographic Research. To email Pini: pini00003@gmail.com To follow Pini on Twitter: Follow @pinih