Israel’s doctor drain accelerates, and the Gulf is now part of the map

About 1,370 Israeli doctors spent at least a year outside the country between 2023 and 2025, a Tel Aviv University study published Sunday found, a 94% jump from the same three-year window a decade earlier.

The yearly tally is blunt: 416 in 2023, 530 in 2024, and a preliminary 419 in 2025. After counting those who came back, Israel still lost a net 509 doctors in 2023–2024, about 255 a year, nearly five times the 2010–2019 average of 54.

Not every departure is forever. Fellowships, research years, and specialist training still pull physicians abroad. But researchers warn that temporary exits too often become permanent ones,  and that the mix of who leaves is getting more expensive for the system.

One in five of those who left in the latest period was over 45. Specialties under particular pressure include pediatrics, ophthalmology, dermatology, and ENT (about 6.2% of those fields), plus surgeons (6%), intensive-care doctors (4.7%), and internists (3.9%).

The classic landing spots remain Europe and the United States: higher pay, clearer career tracks, and less grinding public-hospital hours after a medical path that in Israel is long, competitive, and poorly rewarded at the finish line.

Increasingly, another destination is on the list. Private hospitals and clinics in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been hunting Israeli talent for years, offering packages that can dwarf Israeli public-sector salaries, including earlier Gulf recruitment drives that advertised pay several times higher plus residency perks.

“Since 2023, the State of Israel has been losing its best people,” said Prof. Itai Ater, one of the study’s authors.

Longer waits, thinner training benches for the next generation, and weaker day-to-day care are the near-term costs. If the outflow keeps climbing, he warned, the damage to Israel’s medical resilience may be hard to reverse.