Survey: 27 percent of Israelis weighing emigration abroad

High-income, educated Israelis are the most likely to consider emigration from the Jewish state.

By World Israel News Staff

A significant number of Israelis — both Jewish and Arab — are considering emigrating abroad, according to a new survey published by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI).

The poll, which surveyed roughly 900 Israelis, found that a substantial portion of respondents would consider moving elsewhere.

Overall, 26 percent of Jewish Israelis and 30 percent of Arab Israelis said they were thinking about leaving the country.

Notably, most respondents who expressed interest in emigrating did not cite any specific concern driving their considerations.

The majority of respondents simply said they wanted to leave without pointing to a defined motivating factor.

The survey was conducted in April, before the 12-day Iran war and the October ceasefire with Hamas.

Among Jewish respondents, those who identified as more left-wing and secular were significantly more likely to say they were willing to leave than those who considered themselves right-wing and religious.

The trend was especially stark among secular, high-income Jewish Israelis who already hold a second citizenship. In this group, an extraordinary 80 percent said they would consider moving abroad.

IDI’s data shows that the inclination to leave Israel rises with higher levels of income and education — and this pattern appears among both Jews and Arabs. Middle-income to high-income Israelis, especially those working in high-demand fields such as medicine, finance, and the tech industry, were the most likely of all participants to say they were weighing a move abroad.

When asked how they viewed Israel’s current situation, 42 percent of Jewish Israelis said they considered the country’s state to be “bad,” compared to 33 percent of Arab Israelis who expressed that view.

The most popular destination for Israelis considering emigration was the European Union, with 42 percent naming Europe as their top choice.

This may be due in part to the large number of Israelis who already possess Portuguese or Spanish passports through their Sephardic heritage, as well as descendants of Holocaust survivors who are often entitled to citizenship in countries from which their ancestors fled, such as Germany and Poland.