The number of Israelis returning to the country fell by 58% in 2025 compared with 2009, an Israeli parliamentary committee revealed Monday, amid estimates that nearly 1 million Israelis are living abroad.
The figures were presented during a meeting of the Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs convened to examine the growing emigration of Israelis, according to the parliament’s official website.
Data from the Knesset Research and Information Center showed that 4,483 Israelis returned to the country in 2025, down from 10,903 in 2009.
Between 2005 and 2024, approximately 141,000 Israelis returned after living abroad, an annual average of roughly 7,000, the center said.
Estimates presented to the committee indicated that around 1 million Israelis currently live outside the country.
- Where are Israelis returning from?
According to the center’s analysis, 45% of returning Israelis came from the US, followed by 6% from the UK, 5% from Canada and 4% from France.
Germany, Russia, Romania and Ukraine each accounted for 3% of returnees, while Australia, Italy and Moldova each accounted for 2%.
More than a quarter of those returning were minors, while 47% were aged between 28 and 60.
Around 70% returned after living abroad for at least five years, the data showed.
- Government accused of inaction
Gilad Kariv, chairman of the Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, accused the Israeli government of failing to take steps to encourage Israelis living abroad to return.
“Since our last discussion on this issue, additional data have been published indicating a decline in the number of Israelis returning to Israel,” Kariv said.
He said the committee had called on the government to formulate a five-year plan aimed at bringing Israelis living abroad back to the country.
A similar plan was introduced in 2010 but has not been renewed since, he added.
“We presented a wide range of measures that could be taken to encourage Israelis to return to their homeland, but unfortunately, the government chose to ignore our recommendations,” Kariv said.
He added that the government had also failed to establish a roundtable to examine ways to encourage Israelis to return.
“There is no body in Israel responsible for addressing emigration,” he said, accusing the government of refusing to take responsibility for the issue.
The meeting also highlighted a growing exodus of medical professionals.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of doctors leaving Israel and a decline in the number of those choosing to return,” said Itai Ater, a professor at Tel Aviv University.
Highly experienced senior doctors account for around 20% of those leaving, he said, noting that other countries offer incentives to attract medical professionals.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported Sunday on a study by Tel Aviv University showing that at least 1,370 doctors left Israel between 2023 and 2025.
One in five doctors who left during the period was over the age of 45, a trend the study described as “worrying.”
A previous report by the Israeli Finance Ministry found that around 24% of specialist doctors at public hospitals are expected to reach retirement age in the coming years.
Nearly 25% of doctors currently working have already passed retirement age but remain in their positions because of staff shortages, according to the report.
Another Tel Aviv University study published in early August found that 268,509 Israelis left the country for at least three months between 2023 and 2025, a figure the Israeli public broadcaster KAN described as a record.
Israeli reports have attributed the rising emigration to the repercussions of the Gaza war, soaring living costs and the political crisis surrounding the government’s efforts to weaken the judiciary.
A Kantar poll conducted for KAN and published on Aug. 9 found that nearly one-fifth of Israelis had considered emigrating during the previous two years.
Around 12% said the outcome of the upcoming general election could affect their decision to remain in or leave the country.
The Israel Hayom newspaper also reported on Aug. 7, citing an internal Tax Authority document, that the emigration rate among wealthy Israelis doubled between 2019 and 2024.
Annual tax losses resulting from their departure rose from around 500 million shekels ($166 million) to 1.2 billion shekels ($400 million) in 2023 and 2024, according to the document.
The figures come as Israel continues its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000, most of them women and children, while destroying around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure.
They also coincide with Israel’s continuing attacks on Lebanon and its ongoing threats against Iran.
