Thousands of Jews have left Israel since the October 7 attacks

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News/AP

Updated on: December 20, 2024 / 7:00 AM EST


Leaving Israel is easier, Shira Z. Carmel thinks, by saying it's just for now. But she knows better. For the Israeli-born singer and an increasing number of relatively well-off Israelis, the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety and along with it, Israel's founding promise: to be the world's safe haven for Jews. That day, thousands of Hamas militants blew past the country's border defenses, killed 1,200 Israelis and dragged 250 more into Gaza in a siege that caught the Israeli army by surprise and stunned a nation that prides itself on its military prowess. This time, during what became known as Israel's 9/11, the army didn't come for hours.

Ten days later, a pregnant Carmel, her husband and their toddler boarded a flight to Australia, which was looking for people in her husband's profession. And they spun the explanation to friends and family as something other than permanent — "relocation" is the easier-to-swallow term — acutely aware of the familial strain and the shame that have shadowed Israelis who leave for good.

"We told them we're going to get out of the line of fire for awhile," Carmel said more than a year later from her family's new home in Melbourne. "It wasn't a hard decision. But it was very hard to talk to them about it. It was even hard to admit it to ourselves."

Thousands of Israelis have left the country since Oct. 7, 2023, according to government statistics and immigration tallies released by destination countries such as Canada and Germany. There's concern about whether it will drive a "brain drain" in sectors like medicine and tech. Migration experts say it's possible people leaving Israel will surpass the number of immigrants to Israel in 2024, according to Sergio DellaPergola, a statistician and professor emeritus of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thousands-jews-leave-israel-after-october-7-attacks/

[Joinfortmill]

1. Dump Netanyahu

[maxsolomon]

3. and then out-migration will end? Doubtful.

This is a minor issue; Israel has plenty of expatriates. I know a few.

[Joinfortmill]

4. It wouldn't hurt. Just my humble opinion.

[yardwork]

7. At least half the Israelis wish they could.

He's their Trump. He's despised by half the country.

[uncledad]

2. "There's concern about whether it will drive a "brain drain" in sectors like medicine and tech"

Brain drain? 45,000 Palestinians have left Gaza but they didn't have a choice did they?

[Aussie105]

5. Not uncommon for those who can to flee an area of conflict.

Holding the feeling that they will return one day, never to ever do so.

Unsettling, disruptive, takes you out of your comfort zone? Definitely.

I sense some self pity from Shira Z. Carmel and not a single thought about how Israel's 'defensive' and ongoing strategy is affecting those on the receiving end.
Just one sided 'woe is us! We are the victims here!'

People on the receiving end currently - they may not be Israelis or Jews, but they are human beings too.
Seems like there is a bit of a blind spot there. A really big one.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. I suspect this will make the country more right-wing and Orthodox

Which will in turn threaten the country's future all the more.

[yardwork]

8. Of course it will.

And given the comments in this thread, the reasons are clear. It's assumed that all Israelis are bloodthirsty warmongers.

I wonder how the posters in this thread will feel if the rest of the world assumes the same of them because "we all elected Trump."

Especially ironic considering how so many Americans felt after 9/11.

[uncledad]

9. Well that is kind of how it goes.

When your government carries out a genocide killing 45,000 civilians and persists in starving hundreds of thousands more the rest of the world may think it a bit self absorbed to be thinking about brain drain from the oppressing State.

[yardwork]

10. How many people did we torture and kill in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Are you ok with the rest of the world thinking you're self-absorbed?

We have far less reason to be afraid than Israelis do, but WE just reelected a bloodthirsty tyrant. Do we deserve what's coming to us?

Watch out for that finger pointing at others. Three of your fingers are pointing back at you.

[uncledad]

12. If your against what Israel is doing in Gaza

then just say so, if not then don't. I did not support our adventures in Afghanistan or Iraq and I said so then and still say so, simple.

[Old Crank]

13. In many ways it will.

Isreal will become more beligerant but the big problem is the more orthodox.
Currently a large number of the orthodox don't participate in the defense of the country.

[C0RI0LANUS]

11. The Israel "Brain Drain," a tiny trickle that began many years ago, may become a fully open spigot.

Years ago Israelis who finished their compulsory military service would trek to India for "R & R," described by many as a "Rite of Passage." This began in the late 1960s or early 1970s.



But every year, some Israelis would remain in India and a "hippie" colony was established in Goa, so to speak.





Many of the expatriates said they were tired of Israel's militarized society, alerts, drills, and violence. Similarly, many Americans ended up in Canada (and some in Mexico) during the Vietnam War.

Anxiety, depression, and PTSD increased in both the Jewish and Arab communities in Israel after the 7 Oct 2023 attacks and counterattacks, so this report of a potential brain drain makes sense. Violence is exhausting.



Sources:

https://www.newstatesman.com/world/2013/01/why-are-there-so-many-israeli-ex-soldiers-india

https://www.tripoto.com/india/trips/why-israelis-in-india-love-india-897940

https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-voices/tracking-down-flipped-out-israelis-in-india

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-ptsd-depression-anxiety-israel-aftermath.html