Leaving the Land off Zion

In a disturbing exodus, Jews are emigrating in record numbers

For most Israelis it was a week of unrelieved bad news. The inflation rate rose to a peak of 133%. The coalition government of Prime Minister Menachem Begin threatened to fall apart again over disputed cuts in defense spending. Angry squatters completed a tent settlement in Jerusalem to protest the housing shortage. Most disturbing of all, however, was a revelation in a parliamentary debate: more citizens are leaving Israel than at any time since the country was founded 32 years ago, on the very principle of the Jews' return to the land of Zion.

According to the Knesset Immigration Committee, 2,000 Israelis are now emigrating each month, mostly to the U.S. About 25,000 are expected to leave this year, 10,000 more than in 1979. If the trend continues, more Jews soon will be departing from Israel than arriving from other countries. Already 400,000 Israeli Jews -- one in nine -- are living in the U.S.

This reverse current is abhorrent to most Israelis, who view it as a betrayal of the country's most sacredeideals. Particularly alarming is the fact that an increasing number of those who quit the country are from the core of its society: Sabras, or native-born Israelis, middle-class families and reserve army officers. Many Israelis compare these departures to craven draft dodging.

Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has even likened the emigration to desertion from the army. Other critics contend that those going to the U.S. are motivated by the most crass materialism. One comment in the Jerusalem Post last week was typical: "They want to be lulled into nirvana by the hum of a six-cylinder auto engine, the whir of a food processor and the strains of an expensive stereo. They want to come home from work and be pampered, to make a lot of money and stop caring."

Certainly many Jews are leaving because of the deteriorating Israeli economy. Triple-digit inflation, high taxes, scarce and expensive housing and unemployment have had a dispiriting effect on the young and ambitious. "Why should I stay?" asks a 20-year-old stationed at a military base in the Negev. "When I get out of here in another year, what do I have to look forward to? Will I be able to find an apartment? No. Can I get married? That's a bit unrealistic without a home. What job will pay me enough to live on?" Says Manny Ender, 33, a toy exporter from Tel Aviv: "Even if you drive a taxi in America, at least you make enough for an apartment, entertainment and a visit to Israel once a year or so."

As a result, many Israelis have apparently lost the incentive to work hard at home. An Israeli diplomat in New York City believes that material goals were not always so important to Israelis. "We used to have a simple formula: Israel would not exist without the Jews. This was our motivation and it made our country strong. But in Israel now, people work an eight-hour day and complain like hell. On the other hand, Israelis in the U.S. work for twelve, 14, even 16 hours a day without complaining. It's obvious we've failed somewhere along the line."

Some of the emigrants have been driven away by fear of a renewed war in the Middle East. Others have simply balked at the inconvenience of mili military preparedness. "It isn't a question of whether you love your country or not," says Avi Ruimi, 24, a physical education teacher from Jerusalem. "It's not the security situation that bothers Israelis. They've grown up with it. It's the 45 days a year of reserve duty that's hard to put up with. Serving in the reserves always interferes with something in your life."

On the other hand, the relaxation of tensions that followed the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty has also created a paradox: it has reduced the patriotic imperative for men of fighting age to remain in Israel.

Peace has carried an unexpected price. Says a sociologist: "Peace has played a negative role. Once the old dangers weren't there any more, people began to think there was no longer any reason to stay in Israel."

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