Record number of Israelis leaving and not returning since 2020, Knesset report says
(AFP/Jack Guez)
Record numbers of Israelis have left the country since 2020, with policymakers enjoying little success in stemming the outflow over the past five years.
A report released by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has alarmed politicians who fear the impact of a declining Jewish population in the state.
The Knesset’s Research and Information Center (RIC) said between 2020 and 2024, some 145,900 more Israelis left the country for the long term than returned.
In 2020, 34,000 Israelis left the country for extended periods, followed by 43,400 in 2021, while 32,500 and 23,600 returned in those respective years.
There was a sharp jump in long‑term departures in 2022 and 2023, with 59,400 Israelis leaving in 2022 and 82,800 in 2023 – a surge partly linked to the start of the Gaza war in October that year.
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According to the report, residents of Tel Aviv accounted for 14 percent of all Israelis who left in 2024 followed by Haifa (7.7 percent), Netanya (6.9 percent) and Jerusalem (6.3 percent).
The report was prepared for a session of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs that was due to take place on Monday.
Committee chair MP Gilad Kariv described the numbers leaving as a "tsunami".
"Many Israelis are choosing to build their future outside the State of Israel, and fewer and fewer choose to return. This phenomenon threatens the resilience of Israeli society and must be seen as a real strategic threat," he said, according to Ynet.
“This is not fate but the result of government actions that fractured Israeli society before the war and neglected the civilian front over the past two years."
Kariv added that it was still possible to stem the flow but that doing so would require urgent intervention from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We can reduce this phenomenon, but the current government’s priorities are entirely different, which will only intensify the worrying trend," he said.
"These priorities are no less than trampling on Zionist values and the future of Israeli society."
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