Tel Aviv University Study: 1,370 Doctors Left Israel Over Three Years, Nearly Double the Previous Decade’s Rate

Some 1,370 Israeli physicians left the country for at least 12 months between 2023 and 2025, a new Tel Aviv University study found, giving Israel’s health system a clear picture of a challenge it must now confront. Over the three-year period, the number is nearly double the 705 physicians who relocated abroad between 2013 and 2015. The researchers recorded 416 departures in 2023, 530 in 2024, and an initial estimate of 419 in 2025.

The total number of departures over the three years exceeds the entire medical staff of major facilities such as Sha’arei Zedek Medical Center, Soroka Medical Center, or Shamir Medical Center. Even after accounting for Israeli physicians who returned home after time abroad, the net loss reached 509 doctors between 2023 and 2024 alone. That annual net loss of roughly 255 doctors is nearly five times the average net loss of 54 doctors per year recorded between 2010 and 2019.

The researchers stressed that a year spent abroad does not automatically mean permanent emigration, since many doctors travel for fellowships, research, or advanced training and are expected to return. The sharp rise in long-term stays is nonetheless a warning sign, and the study gives Israel’s health system hard numbers to work with as it addresses the retention of its physicians. (TOI/VFI News)

“Dear God, we lift up Israel’s doctors and nurses, the hospitals and patients that depend on them, and we ask in Yeshua’s Name that You draw back to Israel the physicians who have gone abroad. Give Israel’s leaders wisdom to strengthen the health system so that skilled and experienced doctors choose to build their lives and careers at home. Sustain the medical teams who are carrying heavy loads, and provide for every patient waiting for surgery or care. Let Israel remain a place where healing flourishes and where the gifts You have given her people are poured out on her own soil.”