Israel tries to stem brain drain
Published 24 January, 2008, 06:15
Israel is suffering a brain drain. Young Israelis are leaving the country in droves, in search of a new life and better opportunities. This is a change from previous generations, who helped build the country.
When Anna Sirota packed up her home and life in St. Petersburg nine years ago she had only one goal in mind – to build a better life and more secure future for her and her family in Israel. Since then she's opened an exclusive antique gallery on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. It caters to the rich and famous is Israel, many of them originally from Russia.
It's taken a generation for the gratitude and patriotism that Anna and other Russian immigrants feel for Israel to begin to disappear. It's now their children, like Anna's twenty-two year old son, Ilya, who are thinking of moving.
In his final year at photography school, Ilya is inspired by New York street photography and dreams of capturing more than the Tel Aviv skyline with his Rolleyflex.
“I'm planning on finishing my studies this year and maybe going abroad to find new opportunities because I don’ want to go to the army here and I don t have enough opportunities here so I think I’ll probably go to Europe,” explains Ilya Sirota.
The country's leaders are aware of the brain drain and for three days are meeting in the city of Herzliya to look at ways of countering the problem.
Most at risk, according to a poll just released, are the 25 to 44 year-old-age group. They choose to go abroad for better job opportunities and better standards of living.
The annual poll also found in the last year that ten per cent more Israelis would prefer a citizenship other than Israeli.
But still, two-thirds of Israelis describe themselves as patriotic although not in the conventional sense of the word.
“There still is a very large segment of youth who volunteer to fight in combat units. Some of those people are fighting in the crack units of the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]. They might not call themselves patriots according to the survey but obviously they’re quite patriotic because they’re fighting for the flag, the colours,” says Jonathan Davis, Director of Herzliya-based Interdisciplinary Centre.
What's becoming more and more common, as relations between Israel and Russia grow closer, is the lifestyle of Yana Barlasova, who divides her working life between Russia and Israel. With two flights a day, it's now possible to have a business breakfast in Moscow and wrap it up with dinner in Tel Aviv.
Yana says she’s is an ‘international person’: she was born in Russia, studied in England, now lives in Israel.
Looking around Tel Aviv, the economic heartbeat of Israel, you wouldn't think that people are leaving the country. Buildings are being built, the economy is on an upward swing, especially in the hi-tech sector, where the country is a world leaders.
But despite this, many Israelis are choosing to leave their country for more attractive destinations.
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