<p>This article examines why some ideologically motivated migrants choose not to naturalize in their host country, focusing on Jewish migrants living in Israel who remain noncitizens despite long-term residence and eligibility for citizenship under the Law of Return. The Israeli case presents a particularly revealing sociological puzzle: migrants who are legally welcomed and often motivated by ideological or religious attachment to Israel nevertheless refrain from formal citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the article argues that non-naturalization in this context reflects not a lack of belonging but ambivalent forms of attachment shaped by the symbolic meaning attributed to citizenship. Interviewees frequently described Israeli citizenship as something that must be earned through sacrifice, contribution, cultural integration, or participation in collective national experiences. Their hesitation to naturalize, therefore, reflected a perceived lack of entitlement to full membership rather than detachment from Israeli society. By analyzing citizenship as a symbolically charged form of belonging, the article contributes to scholarship on naturalization, transnational migration, and the sociology of belonging. The article shows that non-naturalization may emerge not only from exclusion or weak attachment, but also from migrants’ perception that citizenship represents a deeper form of collective belonging for which they do not yet feel fully legitimate.</p>