Most of those leaving left Israel for economic reasons: they were dissatisfied with high prices, taxes, and unemployment. This category also included students wishing to complete higher education on terms that are more economically advantageous than those in Israel.
According to the latest data, hundreds of high school students are going to Russia or Ukraine to complete their studies and possibly stay in those countries. They believe it will be easier for them to succeed there than in Israel. Among non-Jewish schoolchildren, those leaving are approximately twice as many as among Jews.
At the committee meeting, data collected by a special department of the Ministry of Absorption were presented. The study was conducted among repatriates from former Soviet republics who came to Israel from 1989 to 2002. During this period, 1.5 out of every thousand native-born left Israel, but among new repatriates from post-Soviet republics, 7.4 out of every thousand left. Of the 939 thousand repatriates from the CIS who came to Israel in 1989-2002, 72 thousand left the country, 9.1 thousand moved to Russia, 5.25 thousand to Ukraine.
Over the years, the tendency to leave among new repatriates has increased. If in 1990 it was 3.8%, then in 1997 it was 6.7%. Among repatriates with higher education, the number of those who left is also 3.8%. People who successfully completed studies at higher education institutions are more inclined to leave than those who only received secondary education.
Most young people with higher education leave for the USA and Western Europe, but recently many are going to Russia. Commenting on these data, Knesset member Ze'ev Elkin (Kadima) stated that problems with the absorption of repatriates are too costly for the state. He called on the Ministry of Absorption to 'develop an emergency program' to combat the tendency to leave among new repatriates.
NEWSru.co.il