Israel's War and Political Climate Are Driving Emigration to U.S., Study Says - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Israelis emigrating to the United States in recent years have been primarily motivated by the political and security situation in the country, rather than economic and professional mobility, as had been the case in the past.
This is the key finding of a new qualitative study that sets out to explain the factors behind the big exodus from Israel in recent years, especially since October 7. Based on more than 80 interviews with Israelis who have relocated to the United States, it is the first study of its kind to take an in-depth look at their motivations.
Although the study, conducted by Prof. Lilach Lev Ari, dean of graduate studies at Oranim College of Education in northern Israel, has yet to be published, several key findings were presented earlier this month at the World Congress of Jewish Studiesheld in Jerusalem. A more comprehensive overview of the study will be presented in December at a special panel on Israeli emigration at the annual conference of the Association for Jewish Studies.
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Over the past 20 years, Lev Ari has conducted numerous studies on Israeli expat communities in the United States and in Europe.
Prof. Lilach Lev Ari, the dean of graduate studies at Oranim College of Education.Credit: Digi-Tali in Yokne'am
Among Israelis she interviewed who had left the country for the United States between one and three years ago, 97 percent cited the political and security situation as key triggers for their decision. "When asked to explain, they spoke about the judicial overhaul, the effects of October 7, a general sense of instability and a feeling that the country's values were changing," Lev Ari told Haaretz.
"This was interesting, because usually the political and security situation is very low on the list of motivating factors for Israeli emigrants."
Many of Lev Ari's interviewees had been talking about emigration for a while ("in most cases, it is the husband") but had no real plans to move. "The events of the past few years caused them to think that here was an opportunity," she said.
Israelis living in the U.S. demonstrating against judicial overhaul in New York City in August 2023.Credit: Emil Salman
Lev Ari estimates that 350,000 Israeli passport holders currently live in the United States, including children of Israelis who were born in the United States. The U.S. has the largest Israeli expat population in the world.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, net emigration from Israel (the difference between the number of Israelis who left the country and the number who returned in a given year) nearly doubled in 2024, approaching 60,000. An emigrant is defined as someone who has been out of the country for at least nine months.
It has not yet been reported how many of these emigrants ended up in the United States, but Lev Ari said she believes it is a significant share.
Her interviews were conducted between October 2024 and June 2025 with Israelis based in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Texas and Georgia. Although this was a qualitative study, she said, her subjects were largely representative of Israelis living in these particular states.
The U.S. and Israeli flags are projected onto the walls of Jerusalem's Old City in June.Credit: Mahmoud Illean/AP
The second most important motivating factor for this latest crop of Israeli emigrants, Lev Ari found, was the future of their children and their children's education. "More than 90 percent of my interviewees cited this," she said.
"This was very surprising, because in my previous studies of Israeli emigrants who left in the 1990s and the 2000s, people would cite Israel's education system as a factor that would make them return. They'd tell me they wanted their kids to have the same kind of education that they had, and they didn't consider the American public school system very good. But that has clearly changed."
About half of Lev Ari's interviewees had left Israel within the past one to three years, while the rest had left within the past four to 10 years. Among the recent group of emigrants, economic and professional mobility was only third on the list of motivating factors for leaving Israel, whereas for the more veteran group, it topped the list.
Nearly half of the Israelis surveyed have no plans to return to Israel.Credit: Tomer Appelbaum
Nearly half of her interviewees said they had no plans to return to Israel, about a third said they might if the situation in the country improved, and only about 20 percent said they planned to come back.
"From past studies I've done, the inclination to return to Israel drops dramatically after five years," she said. "What surprised me in this group was how many of them who had only been out of the country for a very short time said they had no intention of going back."
While many of her interviewees expressed concerns about growing antisemitism and hostility toward Israelis in the United States since October 7, Lev Ari said: "It wasn't something that would cause them to return to Israel or to regret their decision to leave."