Well-educated, highly skilled Israelis moved abroad in increased numbers in recent years, draining the country of engineers, tech personnel, and physicians, a new study by Tel Aviv University has found, underscoring deeper concerns about the future main growth engine of the economy.

A total of about 90,000 Israelis left the country from January 2023 to September 2024, including hundreds of PhDs and medical doctors and thousands of engineers, according to research compiled by senior economists Prof. Itai Ater, Prof. Nittai Bergman, and Doron Zamir at Tel Aviv University.

The trio based their findings on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Population and Immigration Authority, and the Israel Tax Authority. They publicized their research last month in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, though the findings have not been published in an academic setting.

The numbers are the latest to show a marked increase in emigration for much of 2023, as government plans to overhaul the judiciary led to mass protests and raised fundamental questions regarding the stability of foundational institutions, driving investment away and leading to some businesses relocating abroad.

According to the authors, the outflow of Israeli citizens led to a loss of an estimated NIS 1.5 billion ($461 million) in income taxes for the government, not including VAT or corporate tax.

“The fact that so many engineers, physicians, and academics are leaving is a major sign of concern and poses a strategic threat to the future of Israel, if this wave continues,” Ater, economics professor at Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management, told The Times of Israel. “Israel is a country with few natural resources and is dependent on quality human capital, and without the knowledge and expertise of the people driving high-tech innovation, academia, and healthcare, the economy will not be able to continue to prosper and everything will collapse.”

The tech sector accounts for about a fifth of Israel’s gross domestic product (GDP), more than half of exports, and about a quarter of total state........

© The Times of Israel