Coming or going? Israel’s migration equation post Oct 7

Israel is experiencing migration both ways in the wake of October 7, although significantly more Israelis have left the country compared with Diaspora Jews who have arrived.

Migration statistics show 42,185 Israelis left the country between October 2023 and March 2024 and had not returned by July this year.

Emigration numbers were already up before October, with 34,500 Israelis leaving Israel between July and October 2023, at the height of the civil crisis, and not having returned by May 2024. That figure was double the number of the previous year.

October appears to have been the peak of emigration, with those leaving Israel slowing as 2024 progressed.

Although no figures are available, media coverage suggests those leaving Israel are more likely to be highly educated and secular, some of them despairing about the current situation. Such migrants are more likely to get work and fit into other societies.

Dror Sadot, 29, is one example of those leaving in despair. She has dedicated her adult life to fighting injustice and discrimination, and advocating for an end to the occupation. Among other positions, she served as a spokesperson for the anti-occupation group B'Tselem and prominent Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh.

"The recent elections and protests against the judicial overhaul were turning points," she says from her new home in Berlin, referring to the Netanyahu government's ongoing efforts to weaken the Supreme Court.