“Shocking numbers”... The specter of reverse migration threatens Israel

The migration of Jews outside the occupying state increased during this period, especially after the Gaza War that broke out on October 7, 2023. Is reverse migration now worrying Israel?

370,000 have left Israel since October 7, 2023, without the knowledge of the authorities, and 600,000 Israelis traveled abroad during the holidays and did not return. Are they thinking about returning or not?

An immigration nightmare

The immigration nightmare that terrifies Israel is not new. The Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” revealed in a report in 2012 that 40% of Israelis planned to flee the country, and there is currently negative immigration of about half a million people, and this number does not include thousands of foreign workers, refugees, and diplomats who have left the country. 

But the question is: Why is the migration of Jews outside the occupying state increasing? According to the Israeli newspaper “Maariv”, this is due to several reasons, the most important of which is the deterioration in the security situation. About 756 thousand Jews immigrated from Israel starting from the uprisings of 1987 and 2000 until 2020, in addition to the escalation of resistance operations during the last decade, which prompted many Israelis to To obtain dual citizenship.

Shocking numbers

For its part, the newspaper, “Middle East Monitor,” indicated that the Portuguese authorities confirmed that the Israelis are the ones most seeking asylum, and 10% of the Israelis applied for asylum in Germany, and the number of Israelis holding French nationality reached 45%. There are now one million Israelis living in The United States, and according to Israeli researcher Mordechai Kedar, this is heartbreaking.

Israel's economic  

Political analysts believed that the escalation of Jewish reverse immigration demonstrated the existence of a wide social rift in Israeli society and that Israel's leaders failed to create a cohesive, unified nation.

Data from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Sunday that the Israeli economy grew more slowly in the third quarter of the year than initially expected, and growth is expected to decline sharply in the fourth quarter due to the war with Hamas.

GDP grew by 2.5% year-on-year in the July-September period compared to the previous three months, compared to the previous estimate of 2.8%. On a per capita basis, GDP grew by 0.6%.

The economy grew by 6.5% in 2022, partly due to the negative impact of the war, and growth is expected to reach about 2% in 2023, according to Reuters.