A new Knesset report warns that more Israelis have been leaving the country than returning in recent years, with young adults, families and highly educated citizens making up a disproportionate share of those departing.
The report by the Knesset Research and Information Center, prepared by Dr. Ayala Eliyahu at the request of Knesset Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee chair MK Gilad Kariv, is expected to be presented next week at a committee meeting on emigration from Israel.
According to the report, about half of those who left Israel since 2022 were between the ages of 20 and 44, even though that age group accounts for a much smaller share of the overall population. The data also show that in 2023, more families left Israel than single people, while more single people than families returned.
“When I took over as committee chairman, I asked to find out which government ministry was responsible,” Kariv told ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth. “To my astonishment, I discovered that there is no single government body coordinating the handling of emigration from Israel, and no strategic plan to reverse the trend.”
The report also challenges several claims made about Israelis leaving the country. At a Knesset discussion in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that those leaving were mostly Ukrainian citizens who had recently arrived in Israel because of the war in Ukraine.
But according to the report, in 2022, 20,124 people left Israel within two years of immigrating, compared with 39,241 who did not fall into that category. In 2023, 27,973 recent immigrants left Israel, compared with 54,791 people who were not defined as recent immigrants.
Another figure points to a rise among veteran Israelis leaving the country. The number of veteran emigrants, meaning Israeli-born citizens or immigrants who had lived in Israel for at least five years, reached 51,000 in 2023, 53% higher than in 2021.
The report also found that in 2024, 52% of those leaving Israel were born in the country, compared with 48% who were born abroad.
“Netanyahu tried to minimize the phenomenon,” Kariv said, “but the data shatter that fake claim.”
Another concerning figure is the education level of those leaving. According to the most recent available data, from 2022, 33.2% of those who left Israel held a bachelor’s degree, while their share of the population was only 21.5%. People with master’s degrees made up 23.5% of those leaving, almost double their 11.9% share of the population.
The gap was even sharper among those with doctorates. Some 3.7% of those leaving Israel held a PhD, while their share of the population was only 0.8%.
A breakdown by field shows that 25% of those who earned a doctorate in mathematics in Israel were living abroad for at least three years as of 2023. The same was true for 22% of PhD holders in computer science, 19% of geneticists and 17% of senior physicists.
“The meaning is that the scientists and entrepreneurs of tomorrow are leaving Israel at a rate far higher than their share of the population,” Kariv said. “Israel’s human capital is being wasted. This is a strategic threat to the country’s future, and no one is waking up.”
The report follows other worrying figures published in recent years showing a sharp increase in the number of Israelis leaving the country since 2022. Until 2021, an average of 40,500 people left Israel each year. In 2022, that number rose to 59,400, and in 2023 it jumped dramatically to 82,800.
In 2024, the number moderated to 69,500, still far above the average in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the same time, the number of Israelis returning to the country has declined. From an annual average of 24,450 between 2009 and 2024, the figure dropped in 2024 to just 18,800.
According to Central Bureau of Statistics data, Israel’s migration balance among Israelis, meaning the number of Israelis who emigrated minus those who returned, excluding new immigrants and other naturalized citizens, was negative from 2022 to 2024, with a gap of 140,000 more people leaving than returning.
“There is a direct link between the judicial overhaul, the attack on academia and the collapse of personal security, and the intensification of emigration trends,” Kariv said. “Alongside the demand for direct government action to reduce the phenomenon, it is clear that the continued erosion of democratic values, social polarization and the government’s failed conduct are causing many Israelis to consider their future in the country.”
“The Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee will continue to pound the table and demand an immediate plan to reverse the trend,” he said.