Israel lost 509 physicians in two years. Researchers warn the trend could become irreversible
The number of doctors leaving Israel has risen sharply while fewer physicians are returning, according to a Tel Aviv University study. The researchers warn that once emigration passes a certain threshold, a self-reinforcing cycle could make it extremely difficult to reverse.
The balance of physician migration in Israel has deteriorated sharply. In 2023-2024, effectively the first two years of Benjamin Netanyahu’s current term as prime minister, Israel recorded a net loss of 509 physicians, an average of 255 per year, compared with an average annual net loss of just 54 physicians between 2010 and 2019. That is almost five times as many. The figures come from a new study by Prof. Itai Ater, Prof. Nittai Bergman and Doron Zamir of Tel Aviv University, based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics’ Research Room. The researchers distinguish between the pre- and post-coronavirus periods.
The figures come as the healthcare system is already facing a severe workforce shortage. Last week, a Ministry of Finance salary report showed that 24% of hospital specialists are approaching retirement age, highlighting the potential impact of continued physician departures.
There is still no final figure for 2025. The researchers estimate that approximately 419 physicians left Israel that year, based on the number of doctors who spent at least three consecutive months abroad and the historical relationship between that measure and the researchers’ definition of a prolonged departure.
The development over time is important for understanding the change. In 2020, the year of the coronavirus pandemic and severe restrictions on international travel, the net migration balance among physicians was exceptional and even positive: more doctors returned to Israel than left. In 2021, the balance swung sharply to a net loss of approximately 116 physicians, which can be explained at least partly as a correction following the pandemic year.
In 2022, the net loss increased to approximately 135 physicians, a level that had already been recorded at the beginning of the series, in 2009. But the significant break came later. In 2023, the net loss jumped to 181 physicians, setting a new record at the time, and in 2024 it nearly doubled again, reaching 328, an all-time high.
In other words, even after accounting for the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the correction that followed, the past two years have seen a clear deterioration in the net migration balance of Israeli physicians.
The deterioration stems from a combination of more doctors leaving and fewer returning. In 2024, 530 physicians left Israel for an extended period, the highest number since 2009, compared with 416 in 2023. At the same time, only 202 physicians returned to Israel in 2024, compared with 235 in 2023, a decline of about 14%.
The breakdown by specialty shows that the departures are not evenly distributed across the medical profession. Between 2023 and 2025, 188 surgeons left Israel, representing about 6% of the licensed physicians in the surgical groups. This includes 123 doctors in orthopedic, plastic, urological, vascular and neurosurgery, and another 65 in general, cardiac, thoracic, pediatric and hand surgery.
A particularly high rate was also recorded among dermatologists, ophthalmologists and physicians in electroencephalography: 116 doctors, or about 6.2% of those licensed in the group, left over the three-year period.
Among internists, the absolute number was higher, with 215 doctors leaving, representing about 3.9% of licensed physicians in the group. In the supporting specialties, which include anesthesia, radiology and pathology, 98 doctors left, or about 3.9%. The departures also included 72 gynecologists, 51 psychiatrists and 39 physicians in intensive care and emergency medicine.
The largest group in absolute terms was physicians without a registered specialty. Some 353 such doctors left, representing about 2.1% of those licensed in the group. This figure is significant because it shows that physician emigration is not limited to veteran specialists. It also includes a substantial number of doctors who are before residency or who are not registered as having a specialty.
The age profile of those leaving is also changing. Between 2023 and 2025, about 23% of departing physicians were over 45, compared with about 14% in the previous decade. The researchers note that many doctors go abroad for internships, advanced training or research, meaning that a prolonged stay does not necessarily constitute permanent emigration.
However, the increase in the number of veteran and experienced physicians leaving reinforces concerns that a growing share of the departures cannot be attributed solely to professional training.
There are also significant geographical disparities. The Tel Aviv District recorded the highest number of departures, with 429 physicians leaving between 2023 and 2025, equivalent to 5.4% of licensed physicians in the district. The corresponding figures were 3.7% in Haifa, 3.3% in Jerusalem, 3.1% in the Central District and 3% in the South.
The researchers warn that the most serious risk is not simply the current level of physician emigration, but the possibility that the trend will become self-reinforcing.
“The real danger lies in the departure from equilibrium, and the fear that immigration numbers will continue to rise and will not remain at current levels,” they write. “Additional negative shocks, political, economic or security, could ignite feedback mechanisms that will lead to a sharp and sudden surge in immigration, in which each additional immigrant increases the incentive for others to follow suit and leave.”
According to the researchers, once the number of emigrating physicians rises above a certain threshold, reversing the trend could become extremely difficult and have serious macroeconomic consequences.
They argue that the country needs to address the trend before it becomes entrenched. “The public must understand that the lack of addressing this trend poses an extremely great risk to the country,” they write. “Also for reasons of basic risk management, the trend of increasing immigration must be dealt with now, before it is too late.
