The exodus from Israel
Immigration is at the heart of the country’s self-image. But people have been leaving.
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Israeli security forces standing guard as Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men gather during a protest against conscription pressure outside a military prison near Kfar Yona, Israel, in June.
PHOTO: REUTERS
James Shotter
Jonathan didn’t want to leave Israel. When his wife first broached the idea, it was he who pushed back. But as the country’s war in Gaza dragged on, and the stresses of the conflict compounded the economic pressures and social tensions never far below Israel’s surface, he realised they had to go.
Then one evening, as he returned to his apartment in Tel Aviv, he ran into the child of one of his neighbours. They spoke, and the boy, aged five or six, said he would see Jonathan that night in the building’s shelter, where residents would go to take refuge from missiles launched by Israel’s foes.
