Come what may, and despite all odds, Israel is home for the Jewish people - editorial

It’s as much a part of Israel as sweltering hot summers, bamba, and the Kinneret: newspaper articles and polls every few months indicating that, given a chance, Israelis would leave the country in a flash.

The most recent example is a Jewish People Policy Institute poll published on Wednesday that found that almost a quarter of Jewish Israelis completely agree (11%) or somewhat agree (13%) with the statement, “If I had a practical possibility to emigrate, I would.”

A first glance at those figures elicits an “oy” response and a wringing of the hands, for there is little more demoralizing in a time of crisis like the one the country faces today than to think that a quarter of one’s brethren would emigrate if just given a chance. The numbers among Israeli Arabs are substantially higher, with 25% completely agreeing with the sentiment and 15% somewhat agreeing.

But some historical perspective is needed before fretting that the cream of the Israeli crop is lining up looking for better opportunities in places like Lisbon, Berlin, Ottawa, and Los Angeles.

Consider this: On the eve of the Yom Kippur War, Israel’s population stood at 3.2 million, of whom 2.8 million were Jews. This year, as the country celebrated its 76th anniversary, and following hundreds of articles about mass emigration and the specter of a debilitating brain drain, the country’s population stood at 9.9 million people, of whom 7.4 million were Jews.

So much for emigrating out of existence.

Nevertheless, we still read constantly about people leaving, wanting to leave, or threatening to leave if things do not change. In recent weeks, there has been a flood of these posts on social media. Reasons range from a loss of faith in the country to security concerns to the country’s leadership crisis.

Taking a look at the history of emigration from Israel 

Emigration has been with Israel since independence; only the reasons given for leaving have changed. In the country’s first three decades, it was related to the physical and financial hardships of living in a fledgling state struggling to survive.

 In the 1980s, the widely reported itch to exit was attributed to hyperinflation, the First Lebanon War, and the First Intifada. In the 1990s, it was because of the Rabin assassination.

In the early 2000s, the reason given was the Second Intifada. In the mid-2010s, it had to do with the national pudding – the “Milky” – being cheaper in Berlin than in Jerusalem. Last year, judicial reform was the cause.

Cumulatively, this creates a sense that the country better tread carefully or – whoosh – everyone will leave.

However, statistics do not support this. According to an exhaustive 2017 study by the Central Bureau of Statistics, between 561,000 and 599,000 Israelis lived abroad for more than a year – not including their children born overseas – or about 6.4% of Israel’s population at the time.

The World Bank even lowered this figure, with its 2016 Migration and Remittances Factbook stating that only 4.6% of Israel’s population lives abroad. To show that this is not a uniquely Israeli phenomenon, the same data indicated that 10% of Mexico’s population lives abroad, 9% of Greece’s, 8% of the United Kingdom’s, and 5% of Germans and Italians.

As demoralizing as social media posts may be, three things should be kept in mind. First, it’s a free country, and everyone has a right to look for greener pastures for themselves and their families elsewhere.

Second, emigration is nearly offset each year – though not entirely – by Jews who want to join their fate with the country’s.

Third, consider what happened on October 7. In the days leading up to that awful day, the media was full of stories of doctors, academics, and hi-tech wizards moving out of the country. On October 8, however, tens of thousands of Israelis around the world – those visiting as tourists as well as those who were abroad for longer stints – clamored for flights back to Israel to join their IDF reserve units.

Are there dissatisfied people eager to leave Israel because of its hardships and challenges? Certainly. Yet they are far outnumbered by the vast majority who have shown since October 7 a strong, incomparable willingness to sacrifice, fight, and even die for the country because of one simple reason: for the Jewish people, Israel is home, come what may.