1,370 doctors left Israel in two years

At least 1,370 Israeli doctors left the country for at least a year between 2023 and 2025. This number is almost double the number during the same period in the previous decade. The Times of Israel reported this information, citing Israeli media.

A study by Tel Aviv University revealed this picture of doctors' emigration. The study said that doctors who went abroad between 2023 and 2025 and stayed for more than 270 consecutive days in the first year and were not in Israel for more than three consecutive months in the following year were considered emigrants.

According to the study, 705 doctors left Israel in the same period between 2013 and 2015. In other words, the number of doctors who went abroad for a long time has increased significantly in the space of a decade.

Itai Atir, one of the study's authors, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that economists have long been concerned that highly skilled professionals could leave the country due to various government policies.

According to him, the trend of doctors emigrating became visible during the debate over judicial reform. Later, the Hamas attack on October 7, the subsequent war, and the situation created by discrimination in compulsory military service have intensified this trend.

Concerns over the emigration of experienced doctors

The study also separately analyzed the emigration of doctors over the age of 45. Doctors of this age usually complete specialist training and gain experience in the medical field and play an important role in training and developing a new generation of doctors.

The study shows that almost one in five doctors leaving Israel between 2023 and 2025 will be over the age of 45. As a result, not only the decline in the number of doctors, but also the emigration of experienced and specialized doctors has become a major concern for Israel's health sector.

Experts say that if skilled doctors continue to emigrate for a long time, it could have an impact on medical services and the process of training new doctors.

Source: Al Jazeera