Signal 'Tsunami' of emigration reshapes Israel's future, experts warn

Summary

A study by Israel's tax authority found that roughly 269,000 to 270,000 Israelis left the country over three years, with 86,500 departures in the first year and 91,500 in the second, a similar scale continuing into the third, and those who left skewing toward higher tax brackets. Gilad Kariv, who chairs the Knesset's Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, warned that Israel faces an emigration tsunami the government is failing to address. Demographer Sergio DellaPergola attributed the trend to prolonged political uncertainty and concern over the country's direction, while Professor Lilach Lev Ari said highly educated younger families are leaving over judicial reform disputes, the sociopolitical atmosphere and the war. A separate Tel Aviv University study found more than 90,000 Israelis left for three months or longer in a single year. The three-year cumulative total of about 268,930 is roughly 3.2 times the 83,219 who left during the comparable period a decade earlier.