Doctors Fleeing Israel at Alarming Rate, Threatening Healthcare System

A new study from Tel Aviv University reveals that 1,369 doctors left Israel between 2023 and 2025, a staggering 94% increase compared to the decade prior. This exodus represents a critical alarm for the Israeli healthcare system, as one in five departing physicians is over 45 years old.

Member of Knesset (MK) Tatiana Mazarsky, who authored the article, highlighted the real-world impact of this trend, citing personal knowledge of two child psychiatrists who left a central Israeli hospital for Australia in the past six months alone. She emphasized that each departing specialist leaves behind children awaiting treatment, families seeking care, and overburdened remaining staff, creating a dangerous cycle of increased workload, burnout, and further departures.

Mazarsky stressed that medical personnel are a strategic national resource, requiring not only training more doctors but also improving working conditions, expanding residency positions, reducing burnout, strengthening public healthcare, and implementing a long-term national workforce plan. She noted that when she entered the Knesset five years ago, the Ministry of Health lacked strategic workforce planning and accurate data on employed physicians.

While acknowledging recent efforts to address the medical workforce shortage and increase medical student enrollment, Mazarsky identified the primary bottleneck as the failure to create more residency positions. She proposed several solutions, including ensuring professional prospects and research opportunities for doctors in Israel, as current limitations often drive them abroad for clinical research.

The article concludes by underscoring the severe consequences for citizens, including longer wait times, understaffed departments, and increased travel for medical care. Mazarsky urged proactive measures to fill the void left by departing specialists and to actively encourage Israeli doctors working abroad to return, emphasizing that a strong healthcare system requires investment in its people.