Israel is an immigrant-receiving country by all measures, as most of its Jewish population are either immigrants or their second – and third – generation descendants. At the same time, some Israelis choose to leave the country, motivated either by push factors – concerns associated with the Middle East conflict, economic considerations, or objections to the power of the religious establishment in the public arena – or by pull factors such as professional opportunities and different lifestyles overseas.
Some of the émigrés are former immigrants who failed to adjust to Israel and returned to their country of origin or moved somewhere else. Others are native-born Israelis who exploited the ease of obtaining a European passport in recent years to settle in one of nearly 30 countries on the continent that became accessible for study, work, and living.
Many Israelis who move away have strong professional skills and are embraced by the host countries, especially the US, Canada, and Australia. Convenient and inexpensive transportation, advanced technology that allows émigrés to maintain ongoing contact with family and friends left behind, and the development of social organizations and networks by veteran Israelis abroad help to replenish the former-Israeli ranks with new arrivals.
Not only have the legislative and economic opportunities for emigration changed, but the attitudes of the Israeli establishment and public toward leaving the country have become more moderate over the years. In the past, emigration from Israel was perceived as a sign of weakness and an act of prioritizing personal and material aspirations over collective commitment.
Today there is a greater understanding that Israelis, like people in all other Western societies and in view of processes of globalization, should feel free to decide where they wish to live. This position has gathered strength in tandem with Israel’s security and economic resilience and its now solid Jewish majority, cemented by mass immigration from the Soviet Union/FSU and high Jewish fertility rates.
The changes in attitudes toward Israeli émigrés are manifested, first and foremost, in the use of more neutral terms than yordim (descenders, the opposite of olim, ascenders), such as migrants, Israelis abroad, and the Israeli Diaspora. The Israeli leadership today, too, strives to maintain ties with citizens who dwell abroad and to mobilize them for various political and economic needs. The platforms of many Israeli political parties increasingly include references to the émigrés.
The public discourse
CONCURRENTLY, THE public discourse does not hesitate to consider broadening the rights of émigrés, including participation in parliamentary elections from their places of residence abroad. In a survey conducted a few years ago by the Jewish People Policy Institute, it was found that more than half of all Israelis believe that their counterparts who live abroad make a positive contribution to the State of Israel.
Yet the longer they remain abroad, the more the Israeli émigrés distance themselves from their home country. This is reflected, among other indicators, in self-definition as Israelis, emotional attachment to Israel, frequency of visits to Israel, contact with friends in Israel, and familiarity with Israel’s social and political situation.
Contrastingly, they strengthen their Jewish religious and ethnic identification, especially in symbolic behaviors such as lighting Shabbat candles, celebrating major Jewish holidays, and keeping kosher, as well as belonging to synagogues and local Jewish institutions. This makes them, at least potentially, an important reserve for Jewish demographic and cultural revival in their places of settlement. They may also play an important role in explaining complex issues associated with Israel to local Jews (and non-Jews).
The number of Israelis abroad is not large. It is estimated at about 600,000 people or 6% of Israel’s total population – an emigration rate very similar to that of countries such as Finland, Austria, and Switzerland. On average, however, the Israeli émigrés are a selective group: highly educated young people who are concentrated in white-collar occupations such as hi-tech, science, and business.
The problem with their emigration
Their emigration not only diminishes the size of the population of Israel but also, and mainly, undermines the country’s human capital and wealth. Had they not emigrated, Israel might be an even more significant start-up nation than it is.
These trends pose three main challenges for Israel: to attempt to induce émigrés to return by offering them stimulating economic opportunities; to find ways of strengthening the ties with Israel with those who choose to remain abroad; and to reduce future brain drain. These challenges, always difficult, seem even harder to confront at this time of turmoil.
This is the seventh in a series of eight op-ed articles appearing once a month during Israel’s 75th anniversary year.
The writer is a professor and head of the Division of Jewish Demography at the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also holds the Shlomo Argov Chair in Israel-Diaspora Relations.