Brain Drain Fear Looms Over Israel Amid Judicial Reform Controversy

Medical doctors and high-tech workers, among other professionals, say they may relocate as the country grows increasingly illiberal

When the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed contentious legislation Monday, it began a process that may have significant ramifications for the country.

The ruling coalition’s members said it was the first step in a lengthy process to reform the judicial system. The political opposition said it would continue protesting while searching for new ways of pressuring the government.

Protestors demonstrated in the streets, the Israeli stock market declined, its currency weakened, and credit agencies and banks warned against investing in the country.

Doctors and high-tech workers, for their part, began discussing relocation abroad.

The reform plan has plunged the country into heated debate since the government announced its intentions early this year. Israel has been engulfed in recent months by demonstrations and other unrest.

The law the Knesset approved Monday was an amendment to one of Israel’s 13 basic laws, which stand in for a constitution.

Under the previous law, the High Court of Justice was able to void government actions that it ruled were highly unreasonable.

Monday’s amendment bars the court from ruling on the reasonability of government actions. The coalition believes this change is necessary, removing a significant hurdle to their ability to govern.

Opponents, however, believe the amended law opens the door to corruption in the civil service. They fear it will permit widespread political appointments to what used to be professional positions and will allow the prime minister, under indictment for corruption, to fire his attorney general, who has been a thorn in his side.

The government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seeks to weaken the country’s supreme court, claiming it has accumulated too much power.

Opponents see the court as the only effective oversight branch in a country with no constitution and only one legislative chamber, which is always controlled by the ruling coalition.

In a poll by Israel’s Channel 13 earlier this week, a third of Israelis said they were considering leaving the country.

Among these are medical doctors. Shortly after the legislation passed, some physicians created online chat groups to discuss and share information on relocating outside Israel.

From the beginning, it was clear that we would eventually see the total crushing of any independent, ethical, liberal, and contemporary thinking, as opposed to complete religionization

Eithan Galun, an internist specializing in liver diseases at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, said there are now seven online groups, each with approximately 1000 participants.

An active participant in the anti-government protests, Galun understands his colleagues’ sentiments.

“From the beginning, it was clear that we would eventually see the total crushing of any independent, ethical, liberal, and contemporary thinking, as opposed to complete religionization,” Galun said.

Many consider the current government to be Israel’s most far-right ever. A mixture of ultra-nationalist and ultra-orthodox parties, the coalition has sought to promote laws, including the contentious judicial reform, that will impact every aspect of life.

Days before being sworn in, Orit Strock, now government minister for “national missions,” suggested new legislation allowing doctors to refuse patients health treatments that contravene their religious beliefs.

Many condemned Strock’s proposal, and Netanyahu immediately disavowed the idea. For the opposition, however, her suggestion was a sign of things to come.

Other coalition members have supported conversion treatments for the LGBTQ community and abolishing gay pride events.

“The government has created an environment in which people do not feel safe, not about their personal nor their professional future,” said Galun.

According to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a club of 38 wealthy countries, there are 10% fewer doctors in Israel than in the average OECD country.

With the most rapidly growing population in the OECD, Israel’s healthcare provider crisis is already being felt. This accompanies a global shortage of physicians, which the World Health Organization says is a growing concern in many countries.

With approximately 30,000 doctors and a public health care system under stress, Israel does not need an outpouring of trained physicians.

To highlight the issue, ScienceAbroad, an Israeli nonprofit facilitating the return of scientific professionals to the country, held an emergency conference Wednesday.

“We wanted people to hear things that will calm them down,” said Rivka Carmi, a former university president and medical doctor who chairs ScienceAbroad. Carmi said she understood her colleagues’ alarm but also perceived a measure of “hysteria.”

Carmi warned that “even if just a small portion of those checking out the option to leave” eventually do so, the Israeli “health system will collapse.”

Carmi said she understood the doctors’ concerns.

“The ethos of our profession is equality, non-discrimination, compassion, and using only professional considerations when making decisions,” Carmi said. “The system has to commit that it will not allow any of this to be harmed.”

The government’s opponents say the coalition’s blitz of new legislation will change the face of Israeli society.

With a nationalist and ultra-religious government in place, they say, its proposed laws will push Israel away from liberal values.

Despite Netanyahu’s reassurances that Israel will not become a country governed by Jewish religious law, liberals are unconvinced.

The director-general of Israel’s Health Ministry, Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, pleaded with ScienceAbroad meeting attendees not to “give up and go to other healthcare systems.” Instead, he said, they should “stay here and be part of setting the rules.”

Some doctors say that the new law, which abolishes the reasonability standard, will allow the government to insert itself into medical decision-making.

Galun warned that it “will allow the government to implement any policy it wants without the courts being able to stop it” and that additional legislation will fuel that fire.

Israeli doctors are just some of the ones checking out their options abroad. The media reports that high-tech professionals are also exploring relocation.

Israel’s high-tech industry, based chiefly on the quality of its human capital, is one of the economy’s most significant engines of growth.

Foreign investment in Israeli high-tech firms has decreased due to a global drop in available capital. This trend is being accelerated by the government’s legislative agenda and political unrest.

If Israeli high-tech workers leave the country, this could also prompt a significant crisis.

Human capital flight is something we warned might happen in response to anti-democratic legislation

Many refuse to speak openly about their intentions for fear of backlash, while others say they will stay to continue opposing the government.

“Human capital flight is something we warned might happen in response to anti-democratic legislation,” said Omer Dovev, spokesperson for the high-tech protest movement.

Dovev said it was “sad” that Israeli “patriots who have contributed so much to the country and want to live here” feel they should start considering their options. He said many high-tech workers receive overseas job offers, and more have begun considering those seriously.

Still, Dovev predicted that many high-tech professionals would stay. “We do not intend to give up on the country and will continue to fight for it as long as it takes.”