A quarter of Israeli Jews are considering leaving: survey

Thousands of Israelis queued on Friday at Cinema City in Glilot after the Portuguese embassy opened a special “Back to the Past” operation, allowing people to line up without an appointment for passport and ID services. The line quickly became enormous, with many turning back once they saw its length.

The scene unfolded just days after the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) published a new survey conducted in April 2025 titled Leave or stay? A map of Israelis' considerations and attitudes regarding moving abroad, which finds that about a quarter of Jews and a third of Arabs are considering leaving Israel.

The demographic patterns make the findings even more dramatic, raising serious concerns for the future of Israeli academia, science and political culture. Among Jews, the level of religiosity has the strongest influence on intentions to leave: an especially high proportion of secular Jews are considering leaving – 39% (traditional non-religious – 24%, traditional religious – 19%, religious – 14%, Haredi – 3%). Age is the second key factor: 36% of young people aged 18–34 are considering leaving (aged 35–54 – 26%, aged 55 and over – 16%). Both Jews and Arabs with high incomes and professions with high global mobility are more likely to consider leaving.

Advanced statistical analysis reveals that the probability that a young secular Jew will consider leaving is higher than 60%, and if he has a high income and foreign citizenship, the probability reaches about 80%. The implications are also clear for Israel’s political landscape: over 40% on the left and 35% in the centre are considering leaving, compared with only 19% on the right.