Almost one in five Israelis have considered emigrating in the past two years, according to a KAN News poll published on Monday, a figure that arrives amid warnings from an opposition lawmaker of a 'tsunami' of emigration and a new university study showing departures at a multi-decade high.

The poll, reported by the Jerusalem Post on August 10, found that 18% of Israelis said they had considered leaving the country, while one-third of respondents knew someone who had left during that period. Twelve percent said the outcome of the upcoming elections would affect their decision to move abroad.

Public opinion on the scale of the exodus was split, with 46% of respondents saying they were not worried about the numbers leaving, against 41% who said they were concerned. The split ran largely along political lines: among coalition voters, 70% said they were unconcerned, while almost 60% of opposition voters expressed worry.

The poll did not offer a breakdown for the remainder of responses, nor a margin of error.

A 'tsunami' of departures

The poll was published days after MK Gilad Kariv, chair of the Knesset's Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, warned that Israel faces a 'tsunami' of emigration following the release of a Tel Aviv University study. The study, based on Central Bureau of Statistics data, found that over 90,000 Israelis left the country in 2025 for three or more consecutive months, according to the Jerusalem Post.

In total, 268,930 Israelis left the country between 2023 and 2025 – 86,509 in 2023, 91,499 in 2024 and 90,922 in 2025 – compared with 83,219 in the equivalent period between 2013 and 2015, the study found.

Citing the study's authors, the Jerusalem Post reported that researchers used a three-month departure index instead of the more comprehensive 12-month measure, which will not be available until 2027. The correlation between the two indices is 0.96, they noted.

Kariv, a member of the opposition Democrats party, said the figures confirmed 'a dangerous trend.'

'Since I took office, I have warned: Israel is facing a tsunami of emigration from the country, and the government is doing nothing about it,' Kariv said in remarks reported by the Jerusalem Post. 'We have implored government representatives to present a multi-year plan to reverse the trend. But apparently, from the perspective of this fanatical coalition, this is a blessing.'

'A strategic threat'

Kariv said many of those leaving are 'doctors, engineers and academics,' calling emigration 'a strategic threat to the future of Israel, and is closely linked to the government's conduct and the coup d'état.' He criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 'dismissive attitude' and described the coalition's behaviour as 'promiscuous, anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli.'

Prof. Itai Ater of Tel Aviv University, one of the study's co-authors, said 'Even in 2025, we see very disturbing numbers of Israelis who left the country for a significant period of time, and these are added to the wave of immigration in 2023 and 2024.' Ater added that while the figures do not yet pose a risk to Israel's resilience, 'if there is no change, there is a growing concern that immigration from Israel will increase in a way that will endanger security and the Israeli economy.'

Al Jazeera, which also covered the story, noted that a study by the Israeli tax authority published earlier this month found that emigration was higher in 2023 and 2024 than in previous years, and that leavers were from higher tax brackets. The outlet framed the departures as a reversal of decades of migration trends, with the government's policies cited as a key driver.

Concerns over brain drain

Demographer Sergio Della Pergola told Al Jazeera that while 'Israel's migration balance has tipped into the red before,' it had only previously done so 'briefly and often in response to short-term financial crises.'

'This time, it's not clear what role the economy is playing,' Della Pergola said. 'Some may be leaving to pursue individual career opportunities, but overwhelmingly, we're seeing people leave from what they regard as a persistent sense of uncertainty over their security and concerns over the country's political direction.'

Michael Ben-Gad, a professor at City St George's, University of London, said retaining young, educated and liberal people was 'vital to sustaining the growth that young economies, such as Israel, depend on.'

Lilach Lev Ari, an immigration professor, said the profile of emigrants was 'becoming much more defined, particularly among those who immigrate to the United States. Increasingly, it's highly educated, high-achieving young families leaving the country–partly, many say, as a consequence of the judicial reforms, the socio-political atmosphere, and the war.'

'We're losing some competent people, but we still have good people here,' she said. 'But it's a rising emigration wave that's been going on for almost three years now, and it's one we should be alarmed about.'

Shir Hever, a political economist, said the 'mass migration' from Israel was a 'gigantic story' but argued the debate focused too heavily on high-earning professionals, paying too little attention to essential staff like nurses whose loss could be equally damaging.