The number of Israelis returning to live in Israel has fallen sharply in recent years, while the number leaving the country for extended periods has risen, according to a new Knesset report that points to a widening migration problem.
The report, prepared by the Knesset Research and Information Centre and cited by the Israeli newspaper Maariv, found that the number of returning residents fell by 53%, from around 8,000 in 2020 to just 3,800 in 2024, the lowest figure recorded in recent years.
The decline has coincided with a marked increase since 2022 in the number of Israelis leaving the country for the long term. Between 2022 and 2024, Israel recorded a negative migration balance among Israelis, with around 140,000 people deducted from the country's migration balance over the three-year period.
Around 70% of those who did return had spent more than five years abroad, while nearly a third had lived outside Israel for at least a decade.
More than half of those returning in 2024 and 2025 were between the ages of 28 and 60, a higher proportion of working-age people than their share of Israel's general population.
North America accounted for around half of returnees, including 45% from the US and 5% from Canada. Another 6% returned from the UK, 4% from France and 3% from Germany.
But returns from the US have fallen particularly sharply. Around 3,700 Israelis returned from the country in 2020, compared with only about 1,500 in 2024.
Alongside Israel's wars, which it launched on several neighbouring states since 2023, the report identified a series of bureaucratic, economic and social obstacles discouraging Israelis abroad from returning.
Returning residents receive considerably less state assistance than new immigrants, with disparities in financial support, housing, taxation and education. Unlike new immigrants, returning Israelis are not eligible for housing assistance.
Those who have lived abroad for extended periods and stopped paying National Insurance can also face a waiting period of up to six months before regaining access to state health insurance.
They can avoid the waiting period by paying 16,860 shekels (around $4,750) but 94% of those subjected to a waiting period between 2022 and 2024 did not pay the fee, leaving them without state health coverage for between two and six months.
The report also cited difficulties finding adequately paid employment and the lengthy process facing Israelis seeking to secure legal status for a foreign spouse, which can take between five and seven years.
Israel's security and social situation was also identified as a key reason prompting Israelis abroad to delay plans to return or abandon them altogether, according to the report.
Israel has waged wars and carried out military operations across the region in recent years, including in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, as well as covert operations and strikes in Iraq, while also launching attacks on Yemen and Qatar.
At the same time, rising antisemitism abroad has added another dimension to the decision facing Israelis living overseas, particularly in countries that account for large numbers of returnees.
Gilad Kariv, chairman of the Knesset's Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, described the scale of departures in stark terms.
“Since taking office, I have warned of a tsunami of emigration from the country,” Kariv said, adding that the committee had repeatedly called for an official to be appointed to coordinate the government's response to the trend.