Record Departures Before Vote

Avigail Ben-Porat, a 50-year-old single mother in Kiryat Shmona, hears rocket fire regularly from her home near the Lebanese border. She dreams of leaving Israel but lacks the financial means to do so. Her friends have already moved to Portugal, Canada, Thailand, and India. Her situation mirrors a national trend where roughly one in 100 residents has departed in the last two years.

Itai Ater, a professor at the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University, published a study in February based on Central Bureau of Statistics data. The research found that 99,000 Israelis left the country between January 2023 and December 2024. The researchers defined emigrants as individuals who remained away for at least three consecutive months and spent more than 270 days outside the country during their first year abroad. Approximately 50,000 people departed in 2023, and 49,000 left in 2024. Ater noted that preliminary figures indicate this pattern continued in 2025.

The exodus follows a period of intense instability for a nation of about 10 million people. In 2023, a Hamas attack on southern Israel killed roughly 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel responded with a military campaign in the Gaza Strip. A fragile ceasefire took effect in October 2025, but Israel still controls about 60 percent of the enclave and conducts regular military activity there.

Political uncertainty compounds the economic and security pressures. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has led the country for three decades, is seeking power again in next week's election. Polls suggest his far-right bloc will fall short of the 61 Knesset seats required to form a government. A rival bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar party is expected to win the most seats but is also projected to miss the majority threshold. This leaves the outcome dependent on post-election coalition maneuvering, a process in which Netanyahu is considered experienced.

Ater warned that if the political status quo persists, emigration rates could rise sharply. "These [emigration] numbers will go up dramatically," he said. He attributed the trend to a combination of war, economic doubt, and a prime minister facing a corruption trial that began in 2020 and remains unresolved. Ater stated that many Israelis are questioning whether they want to raise children in such a country.

The departure of skilled workers poses specific risks to the economy. The study identified a sharp increase in the exit of doctors, engineers, and Ph.D. holders in 2023 and 2024. Net departures included 2,360 engineers and 509 doctors. Ater emphasized that Israel's economic stability relies on this human capital, particularly in the technology, academic, and healthcare sectors.

Corporate leaders are also reassessing their presence in the country. Liam Schwartz, head of the corporate immigration department at the Tel Aviv law firm Goldfarb, Gross, Seligman, reported that some firms face pressure from non-Israeli investors concerned about operational viability. These companies are increasingly willing to shift portions of their workforce to North America or Europe. Schwartz traced the discontent to January 2023, when the government proposed judicial reforms that would have reduced the powers of the Supreme Court.

Schwartz described the current political climate as a failure to meet the social contract expected by businesses. He called the October vote a potential turning point for future emigration trends. Ater described the stakes as a strategic risk to Israel's standing as a democracy and a liberal state, noting that the situation is a concern for the Middle East and the wider world.