"Fracturing Israel"
Israel’s Great Escape: Record Numbers of Israelis Are Fleeing
More leaving, fewer returning: Two years after the war began, a new Knesset report paints a grim picture of a deepening emigration crisis. Israel now faces a negative migration balance, and the government has no plan to reverse it.
Israel is experiencing a dramatic rise in the number of citizens leaving the country for long-term stays abroad, alongside a sharp decline in the number of returnees, according to a new report released by the Knesset Research and Information Center (RIC) ahead of a special discussion today in the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee.
The data, covering 2020 to 2024, reveal that 145,900 more Israelis left the country than returned during that period. This represents one of the steepest negative migration balances in Israel’s history.
Post–October 7 Exodus
According to the report, the number of Israelis emigrating surged after the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, with a noticeable spike in long-term departures that continued through 2024.
Between January and August 2024, roughly 50,000 Israelis left, a rate similar to 2023, indicating the trend remains steady.
Meanwhile, the number of Israelis returning from abroad continues to fall:
By city, Tel Aviv–Jaffa leads the emigration figures, accounting for 14% of all those who left in 2024, followed by Haifa (7.7%), Netanya (6.9%), and Jerusalem (6.3%). Cities with the fewest departures were Herzliya (1.8%), Ashkelon (1.9%), and Be’er Sheva (2.1%).
More men (42,605) left than women (40,169).
Age breakdown:
Committee Chair MK Gilad Kariv (Labor) called the findings “alarming,” warning that the trend has reached the level of a “tsunami.”
“This is no longer a pattern of temporary emigration, it’s an exodus,” said Kariv. “Many Israelis are choosing to build their future abroad, and fewer and fewer are coming back. This phenomenon threatens the resilience of Israeli society and should be treated as a genuine strategic threat.”
Kariv blamed the government’s policies for “fracturing Israeli society before the war” and neglecting the civilian front since it began.
“This isn’t fate, it’s the result of government choices,” he said. “With the current priorities, the situation will only worsen. This insistence is nothing less than a crude trampling of Zionist values and Israel’s future.”
The Knesset report notes that the government has no structured plan to curb emigration or to encourage Israeli expatriates to return.
According to Central Bureau of Statistics data, 79,000 Israelis emigrated between last Rosh Hashanah and this one, deepening the country’s negative migration balance and sparking growing concern that Israel is entering a long-term demographic decline driven by disillusionment, economic instability, and prolonged war fatigue.