<The question is, why in E"Y to light outside. The reason is that 
many in E"Y follow minhogei HaGr"o, and Talmudei HaGr"o claimed to 
light outside. The Th"G were the first Ashkenaisim to come to E"Y, 
and a lot of their minhogim were mekubel, eg. not to say BHLA"A 
before She"Es Maariv (as far I know no kehila in E"Y says it, whereas 
in Ch"l, most do), also zman hashkia, also to say "kavei" after 
shacharis, which in Ch"l Ashkenaz doesn't say, also Morid HaTal, 
which again is not said in Ch"l by Mispaleli Askenaz, Boruchu after 
davening, duchening etc etc. These are all Minhogei HaGr"o, and have 
no shayches to E"Y beEtzem, only that minhog haGro is followed. Hu 
HaDin lighting outside. (agav, even in E"Y it is not mekubel by rov 
kehillos)>

     The claim made about hadlakas haner have already been discussed 
at length.  There are also, however, some items mentioned 
incidentally which are inaccurate.

     Not all of the minhagim practiced by the Prushim in Eretz 
Yisrael stem from the Gr"a.  Many of them are the result of adopting 
minhagim from the S'faradim.  The Gr"a did _not_ say "Kavei" (a/k/a 
Ein Keilokeinu) after Shacharis.  He did _not_ repeat Borchu after 
davening.  Among other items mistakenly attributed to him which are 
actually of S'fardic origin is saying Sim Shalom rather than Shalom 
Rav at Mincha on Shabbos.  I believe that saying Hoshanos after 
Shacharis rather than Mussaf has the same provenance. Even Morid 
Hatal is from the S'fardim; what the G'ro said was "Mashiv haruach 
umorid hatal."   

EMT