The study, published by Hebrew-language newspaper Haaretz, found that the Israeli regime has lost an average net of 255 doctors a year after accounting for physicians who returned following specialist training abroad.
The researchers linked the growing exodus to political turmoil surrounding the judicial overhaul proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, the genocidal Gaza war that began in October 2023, mounting economic and social pressures, and growing internal disputes over military service and its burden.
According to the study, the number of doctors leaving the occupied territories during the three-year period was about 94% higher than during the comparable period a decade earlier.
The researchers said economists had warned since 2023 that policies pursued by Netanyahu’s cabinet could encourage skilled workers with the ability to emigrate to leave.
Under the study’s methodology, a doctor is considered an emigrant if they spend more than 270 days outside the occupied territories during the first year after departure and do not return for more than three consecutive months.
The impact is particularly significant because many departing doctors are experienced professionals.
One in five doctors who left the occupied territories between 2023 and 2025 was older than 45, according to the study, depriving the healthcare system not only of experienced physicians but also of professionals expected to train younger doctors and transfer specialized knowledge.
The trend is especially pronounced in several medical specialties.
During the study period, 116 specialists in ear, nose and throat medicine, dermatology and ophthalmology left the occupied territories, representing about 6.2% of doctors working in those specialties.
Another 188 surgeons left, equivalent to about 6% of the surgical workforce, with the figure reaching 8.8% among surgeons younger than 60.
The crisis comes as the Israeli regime’s healthcare system also faces an aging workforce.
A recent report by the finance ministry found that about 24% of specialist doctors in “public” hospitals are approaching retirement age, while roughly a quarter of doctors working in the occupied territories have already passed retirement age but continue working amid shortages.
Researchers warned that continued emigration could widen the gap between the number of physicians needed and those available, particularly in specialties requiring years of training.
The study said the broader brain drain also extends beyond medicine to academics, engineers and technology workers, raising wider concerns about the Israeli regime’s ability to retain its skilled workforce.
Gilad Kariv, a member of the Knesset and chairman of the regime’s Immigration Affairs Committee, described the rising emigration as “a major tsunami,” saying it threatened the resilience of Israeli society and should be treated as a genuine strategic threat.
He also blamed Netanyahu’s cabinet for accelerating the trend, saying its policies had deepened divisions before the war and that its priorities amounted to an open trampling of Zionist principles and the principles of Israeli society.