Israel has dropped out of the list of the top ten countries to which millionaires immigrate for the first time in several decades, according to international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners' 2024 wealth migration report released Tuesday morning.
This represents a "major turnabout," according to the report. "This seismic shift underscores how swiftly conflict can unravel a country’s appeal to the world’s wealthy and globally mobile," said Senior Client Advisor at Henley & Partners Israel, Dan Marconi.
War threatens Israel in multiple arenas
"The ongoing war has not only shattered Israel’s image as a safe haven but also threatened to overshadow its economic achievement," he added.
The report features net inflows and outflows of high-net-worth individuals with liquid investable wealth of USA one million or more as projected by New World Wealth, a global wealth intelligence firm.
The inflow of millionaires is not the only impact of the Israel-Hamas war that the firm has seen. There has been an increase of almost 250% in the number of Israelis applying for alternative residence and citizenship through Henley & Partners, when compared to pre-war figures, Henley & Partners told The Jerusalem Post.
"Inquiries from Israelis were still up 162% in May of this year when compared to the same time last year," they said.
The company opened a branch in Israel around a year ago, following demand that has been steadily increasing for years, they explained. The "decision to set up our Israel practice started way before [the Israel-Hamas war] unfolded," Philippe Amarante, Head of Middle East at the firm, said explaining that they decided to open the local branch because there is a large group of sophisticated high net worth individuals in Israel who are interested in the firm's services.
"There is a global pattern across these [high-net worth] audiences, regardless of their domicile, regardless of what residence or citizenship they have and that is the aspiration to have more optionality," he explained. "After october 7 what we see is an acceleration of these trends" of wanting more options.
This trend is comparable to trends that followed other significant global events. "Whenever there is tension in a region it gets the attention of people who have an interest in protecting their assets," Amarante explained.
Most Israelis are not looking to leave the country, Marconi explained, they are simply interested in having more options for the future.
Henley & Partners is a leading firm providing services relating to residence and citizenship by investment to hundreds of individuals each year, said the firm. Residence and citizenship by investment is a process by which foreign nationals can acquire citizenship or residence in a country by investing in its economy.