Fears grow of a brain drain that could undermine country’s hi-tech economy as liberal families conclude social contract has been broken

This summer, the Nobel laureate Prof Aaron Ciechanover joined a group of prominent Israelis gathered in the ruins of the Nir Oz kibbutz to demand a hostage release and ceasefire deal.

Nir Oz was the worst hit of all the communities targeted by Hamas on 7 October, with a quarter of its residents kidnapped or killed. Twenty-nine are still in Gaza.

If the hostages were not brought back, the basic social contract that underpinned Israeli society would unravel, the 77-year-old professor of medicine warned – with catastrophic consequences for the entire country.

He cited an accelerating “brain drain” of doctors and other professionals as a worrying sign that some of Israel’s elite already feel they no longer have a future in the country. And without them, Israel itself might struggle to have a future.

  • RentlarEnglish
    22•1 day ago

    Yeah, from now on any presentation of Israeli tech will be underlined with the unspoken question: does it come with a side of explosives?

    Israel is becoming the religious theocratic terrorist state it sought to destroy. No doubt any resident who doesn’t subscribe to that ideology would look to leave if they can.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness
      3•21 hours ago

      Israel is becoming the religious theocratic terrorist state it sought to destroy.

      Always has been.