Migration from Israel to the outside world – known in Hebrew as Yerida (ירידה), meaning literally “descent” – is one of the most sensitive social issues within Israeli society.
This terminology carries deep connotations, suggesting decline and deterioration, in contrast with Aliyah (עליה), or “ascent”, which symbolises immigration to the so-called Promised Land.
Since the establishment of the state in 1948, the idea of “ascent” to Israel has been central to Zionist identity. Reverse migration, by contrast, has long been viewed as a form of abandoning the national project, fleeing responsibilities, or pursuing selfish personal ambitions in Western countries instead of contributing to the collective Zionist effort that seeks to preserve the Jewish character of the state and secure its future.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin described these emigrants during Independence Day celebrations in 1976 as “the fall of cowards”, a description that continues to reflect the collective perception of this group to this day.
Israel – a state founded fundamentally on the concept of Jewish immigration to the “Promised Land” – is now facing, for the first time since its establishment, a rapidly accelerating wave of reverse migration, with the number of those leaving exceeding the number of those arriving during the past two years.
The Fear of a Shattered “Safe Haven” Myth
Since 1948, security has been the central pillar in shaping Israeli collective consciousness and in Zionist discourse that presented Israel as “the safe homeland of the Jewish people” and “the final refuge” for Jews expelled from Europe.
However, this myth collapsed on 7 October 2023 during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which shook the foundations of the security establishment and toppled the collective sense of safety within the state’s borders.
On that day, Israelis discovered that decades of promoting the idea of intelligence invincibility and an impenetrable deterrence shield had been nothing more than a collective illusion. The Palestinian resistance’s breach of fortified borders and its transformation of supposed symbols of safety into scenes of incapacity and confusion shattered trust between the Israeli citizen and the security institutions. It transformed the crisis from a temporary military event into an existential identity crisis.
According to a 2024 report by the Israel Democracy Institute, more than two-thirds of citizens stated that their trust in the army declined sharply after the attack, while more than half expressed “a constant fear of losing personal security even in central cities”.
From here, the notion of a “safe haven” that once attracted Jewish migrants from Europe and around the world became the subject of doubt and anxiety, pushing thousands of families to seek an “alternative refuge” beyond the borders. Migration was no longer merely an economic or professional option; it became a survival mechanism in response to the loss of internal security.
A Tsunami of Departures
Israel – a state founded on the principle of Jewish immigration to the “Promised Land” – is now facing, for the first time in its history, a rapidly accelerating wave of reverse migration, with the number of those leaving exceeding those arriving over the past two years.
According to official data released by the Knesset Research and Information Center, Israel became in 2023–2024 “a country exporting more people than it receives”, following an unprecedented rise in departure rates not seen since the 1970s.
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (2024), alongside international reports by the Associated Press and the Times of Israel, show that the period from October 2023 to mid-2025 constituted one of the largest waves of outward migration from Israel in the last two decades.
According to estimates by the Central Bureau of Statistics, between 82,000 and 85,000 people left Israel in 2023, the highest annual rate since the Second Intifada.
The Associated Press reported that the first months of 2024 witnessed a 59 percent increase in departures compared to the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Times of Israel noted in its statistical report that the number of returnees to Israel decreased by 21 percent during the first half of 2024, indicating a clear shift in the demographic balance between Yerida (descent) and Aliyah (return).
This decline in return migration reflects the erosion of the “safe haven” appeal within the Israeli collective consciousness. Migration is no longer explained solely through economic or professional motives but also as a security response to the rapidly unfolding events after 7 October 2023.
With expanding regional tensions and rising feelings of instability, these figures suggest a long-term structural shift in the state’s demography, raising questions about its social and economic future over the next decade.
The aforementioned statistics show that this migration wave did not unfold uniformly over time; rather, it moved through two main phases:
Phase One (October 2023 – March 2024)
The phase of “collective shock” following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, in which security fears coincided with widespread military mobilisation and a sense of instability among families.
Migration in this period was defensive and temporary in character – a “preventive migration” aimed at distancing families from immediate tension.
Phase Two (April 2024 – Summer 2025)
The phase of “relative stabilisation”, during which emigration became a strategic choice for certain groups, particularly professionals and urban families.
Here, travel was no longer a mere escape from danger but a search for a more stable lifestyle and better work and education opportunities abroad.
These indicators point to a long-term structural transformation in Israel’s demography, especially amid rising regional instability and declining trust in institutions.
Knesset member Gilad Kariv described the phenomenon as “a tsunami of Israelis choosing to leave the country”, a description that appeared in a Times of Israel report titled Hidden Cost of War: 125,000 Israelis Emigrated between 2022 and 2024 (Times of Israel, 2025).
Who Is Leaving?
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS, 2024) shows that more than 80,000 Israelis left the country in a single year, most of them aged 25–40 – the age group that forms the backbone of the productive and technological workforce.
Andrew Schein, in his study published in Israel Affairs, argues that this migration represents a severe economic human drain, reducing the tax base and increasing domestic labour costs.
In a report published by Sarajevo Times on 15 October 2024 titled “Israelis Leaving the Country in Large Numbers: Unprecedented Exodus, Mostly Among Those of Military Service Age”, it was noted that Israel is witnessing a rising migration wave among productive young groups.
The report showed that the average age of male migrants reached 31.6 years, while for females it was 32.5 years. Individuals in their twenties and thirties made up around 40 percent of migrants, despite representing only 27 percent of the population.
According to the statistical analysis, these figures highlight that Israel is losing a crucial segment of its qualified workforce, located at the core of university education, professional integration, and military service – a warning sign of long-term economic and human consequences.
The report also stated that 48 percent of male and 45 percent of female migrants were unmarried, while 41 percent moved with their partners, indicating that a large portion of these migrants are leaving permanently, not temporarily.
In terms of origin, 59 percent of migrants were born abroad, while 41 percent were born inside Israel. Of those born abroad, 80 percent came from Europe, the vast majority (72 percent) from former Soviet Union states. This group had previously received substantial government support, including subsidised housing and mortgage loans, before reinvesting the gains from selling those properties abroad.
These figures reveal that Israel is losing its young, educated, and productive elite – the segment that forms the foundation of the workforce, education, and military service – posing long-term human and economic risks.
Young people in Israel no longer see the state as a national collective project with a promising horizon, but as a place fraught with threat, “captive to the reality of perpetual conflict”.
Brain Drain
Alongside youth migration, recent years have seen a parallel trend: a significant rise in departures among academics and professionals in technology, medicine, and engineering.
In a special session held by the Knesset Committee on Immigration and Absorption in May 2024, the Knesset Research and Information Center indicated that while precise official data is not yet available, preliminary estimates suggest that around 12 percent of those who left in 2024 held advanced academic degrees (master’s or doctorate), reflecting an acute loss of qualified human capital within Israel.
The organisation ScienceAbroad – an international network connecting Israeli researchers abroad – revealed in its 2024 annual report that more than 3,500 Israeli scientists and researchers moved to universities in Europe and North America since the outbreak of the Gaza war, compared to about 2,000 researchers in the previous two years combined – a doubling of the “brain drain” following the military and political crisis.
Similarly, researcher Yagil Levy from the Open University of Israel emphasised that this phenomenon represents a form of “knowledge drain” threatening the infrastructure of Israel’s innovation-based economy. He warned that continued loss of academic and technological expertise will create a gap difficult to bridge in the medium and long term.
Conclusion
The current demographic indicators suggest that Israel stands at the threshold of a profound, long-term structural transformation.
The rising emigration of youth and educated individuals is not merely a passing demographic trend; it touches the core of Israeli society and its age and professional composition.
This ongoing human drain leads to a growing imbalance in the age structure of the workforce and a decline in key sectors such as technology and scientific research – sectors that have long constituted the beating heart of the modern Israeli economy.
The consequences of this phenomenon go beyond the economic sphere to affect the social and political fabric of the state. Migrants are not leaving solely in search of better opportunities, but also due to a lost sense of security and stability. Those who remain are tied to the land by religious or imagined national motivations.
Thus, the divide deepens between those who view staying as a national duty and those who see departure as a legitimate human escape.
In the long term, this trajectory may lead to declining population growth and productivity, and to a redefinition of the state’s identity itself. The Zionist model built upon the notion of the “safe haven” now faces an existential test, as its symbolism erodes in a new reality where trust in institutions diminishes and the ability to reassure future generations fades.
In this shifting landscape, the concept of Aliyah – once synonymous with the collective dream of ascending to the so-called Promised Land – may become a symbolic memory of a bygone era.
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