For thousands of Jews, Israel still doesn’t feel safe after the October 7 attacks. So they’re leaving
It is possible that 2024 ends with more people leaving than entering, with Spain, Canada and Australia among favoured destinations
Leaving Israel is easier, Shira Z. Carmel thinks, by saying it is just for now. But she knows better.
For the Israel-born singer and an increasing number of relatively well-off Israelis, the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety and along with it, Israel’s founding promise: to be the world’s safe haven for Jews.
That day, thousands of Hamas militants blew past the country’s border defences, killed 1,200 Israelis and dragged 250 more into Gaza in a siege that caught the Israeli army by surprise and stunned a nation that prides itself on military prowess.
This time, during what became known as Israel’s 9/11, the army did not come for hours.
Ten days later, a pregnant Carmel, her husband and their toddler boarded a flight to Australia, which was looking for people in her husband’s profession.
And they spun the explanation to friends and family as something other than permanent – “relocation” is the easier-to-swallow term – acutely aware of the familial strain and the shame that have shadowed Israelis who leave for good.