Over 1,300 Doctors Emigrate from Occupied Territories Between 2023-2025, Study Reveals
According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, a recent study conducted by Tel Aviv University reveals that a minimum of 1,370 doctors have departed the occupied territories between 2023 and 2025. This trend points to an intensifying migration of specialized personnel from the Israeli regime’s healthcare sector, as reported by Anatolia news agency via Mehr News Agency.
The research, published on Sunday in the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz, defined a departing doctor as one who spent over 270 days outside the occupied territories in the first year after their departure and did not reside in the territories for more than three consecutive months thereafter.
Itai Atar, a professor at Tel Aviv University and one of the researchers, stated that economists had been warning about the increase in the emigration of skilled workers since 2023. He explained that this trend initially began during the regime’s attempts at judicial reform and intensified after October 7, 2023, and the Gaza war.
Researchers have expressed particular concern over the departure of doctors over the age of 45, as these individuals have typically completed their specializations and play a crucial role in training the next generation of physicians. Approximately one-fifth of the doctors who left the occupied territories during this period were over 45 years old.
The rate of emigration has been more pronounced in certain specialties. A total of 116 ophthalmologists, dermatologists, and otolaryngologists have left, accounting for 6.2 percent of physicians in these fields. Furthermore, 188 surgeons, representing about 6 percent of Israel’s surgeons, have departed. Tel Aviv recorded the highest emigration rate among cities, with 5.4 percent of its doctors leaving.
This trend emerges as the Israeli Finance Ministry warned last week that approximately 24 percent of specialist doctors working in the regime’s hospitals are set to reach retirement age in the coming years. An additional 25 percent have already passed retirement age but continue to work due to a shortage of medical personnel.
Atar cautioned that the trajectory of this trend is more concerning than the current situation, and physician emigration is likely to increase following the general elections in Israel scheduled for October 27.
Another study from Tel Aviv University, published in August, indicated that 268,509 Israelis had left the occupied territories for at least three months between 2023 and 2025. Channel 12 described this figure as a record. Israeli reports attribute the increase in emigration to the war, high cost of living, and political crisis. A Channel 12 poll in August also showed that about one-fifth of Israelis had considered emigration over the past two years.
