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.

  • ThePowerOfGeekEnglish
    31•3 months ago

    I get where they are coming from to a degree - that the Israeli government has not fulfilled it’s obligation to get the hostage home, and that the country on general is becoming increasingly run on religious fervor. But it’s disappointing that the ongoing genocide seems to have little to no part to play in their concerns. There’s millennia of bad blood there and they have been victims of atrocities too, I understand that. But if the murder of innocent people in their name isn’t causing pause for thought, then there’s something seriously wrong. (Same thing goes for every nation or cultural group.)

    • NoneOfUrBusiness
      8•3 months ago

      But it’s disappointing that the ongoing genocide seems to have little to no part to play in their concerns.

      Israelis, in general, don’t care about the genocide or are actively cheering it on. The people who actually think it’s objectionable are overwhelmingly the minority.

      There’s millennia of bad blood there

      Just no. This whole mess started around the start od the 20th century, before or after depending on how you look at it. The modern conflict is one between colonists and natives and has absolutely nothing to do with the Jewish expulsion from Rome or anything that happened during Muslim rule.

      • @c10lEnglish
        2•3 months ago

        Israelis, in general, don’t care about the genocide or are actively cheering it on.

        Indeed that seems to be the case:

        68 percent of Israelis support a direct attack on Iran if its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah continues launching rockets at Israel

        Among Jewish respondents, the poll also found 41% support for a long-term military occupation of southern Lebanon; 72% opposition to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict; and 92% doubt the Palestinian Authority could be trusted to stop a repeat of October 7.

        https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-two-thirds-of-israelis-support-strike-on-iran-if-hezbollah-attacks-continue/

  • RentlarEnglish
    22•3 months 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
      4•3 months ago

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

      Always has been.