Israel faces unprecedented exodus as citizens flee fear and conflict

The report by Shira Rubin was published under the headline: “Israelis Leaving in Record Numbers Over Fear and Dissatisfaction.”

The American journalist, based in Tel Aviv, spoke with several Israeli families about their reasons for leaving the occupied territories. One interviewee was Avraham Binenfeld. According to the report, Binenfeld had planned to leave Israel before Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, but the Gaza war changed his plans.

Rubin wrote: “Avraham Binenfeld was so disillusioned with Israeli policies that he was preparing to emigrate… but (Operation Al-Aqsa Storm) transformed Israel and his plans. Binenfeld said he was immediately mobilized for reserve duty in the army and halted his migration plans. Yet now, weeks after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in the Gaza war, Binenfeld is packing to leave the occupied territories.”

Binenfeld explained: “We are only a few hours away from air raid sirens, terrorist attacks, regional war, missiles from Iran, and our brothers (in the Israeli army) in Gaza and Lebanon. Enduring all this is very difficult.”

According to the Washington Post, tens of thousands of Israelis have left the occupied territories over the past two years. The newspaper noted that Israeli departures increased during summer 2023 amid protests against Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies, even before Operation Al-Aqsa Storm and the Gaza war.

Data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics shows that more than 80,000 of Israel’s 10 million citizens moved abroad in 2024, and a similar number is expected this year.

Binenfeld reported that two years ago, he had been active in mass street protests against Netanyahu. He said that next year he plans to move to Switzerland with his wife, but, like many other Israelis who emigrated, he does not know how long they will stay.

The Washington Post wrote: “Israeli sociologists and demographers say most emigrants are educated, high-income, secular, left-leaning, and deeply critical of the regime’s leadership. Many work in startups, are doctors, or postgraduate students. Young couples and families are highly represented.”

The newspaper warned: “Israeli experts say this migration could have significant economic, social, and political consequences for decades to come.”

Tel Aviv University economics professor Itai Atar stated: “There are brain drains elsewhere in the world, but relative to Israel’s population, this phenomenon is unique.”

Atar warned that workers in Israel’s high-tech sector—who make up 11% of the workforce but pay one-third of the country’s taxes—are overrepresented among the emigrants.

Daphne Patishi-Periluk, founder of the agency Settled.In, which helps Israelis emigrate, said her office has received an unprecedented volume of requests. She explained that before the Gaza war, most Israelis moved abroad for job opportunities, but recently her clients have sought to escape Israel’s “exhausting wars and political developments.”

Patishi-Periluk added that requests to leave increased after the 12-day war and when Tel Aviv was hit by Iranian missiles. She herself relocated from Israel to Boston last year.

The Washington Post reported: “It is estimated that 200,000 Israelis now live in Europe. For years, Israelis have obtained second passports from EU countries, including Germany, Poland, Spain, and Portugal.”

One Israeli teacher, Michal Bar-Or, who holds a German passport, moved with her three-year-old son from Tel Aviv to Hamburg five months ago. Her husband, who works for an Israeli tech company, has a Polish passport and works remotely.

Bar-Or said she feels lonely in Germany, her son is struggling in a German preschool, and the family is still unsure whether to stay in Hamburg, move to Berlin, migrate to Portugal, or return to Israel.