An increase in the brain drain phenomenon

A study, carried out by a team led by Prof. Omer Moab from the Economic Institute of the Shalem Center, during the years 2000-2004 there was an increase of 6% each year in the proportion of researchers and professors from the community of immigrants

In 2002, only 0.9% of those who dropped out were researchers and professors, and in 2004 it was already 1.7%. To this we can also add the doctors, who in 2004 made up 2.1% of those who came down. This is according to a study carried out by a team of researchers at the Shalem Center led by Prof. Omer Moab from the Shalem Center's Economic Institute.

"While those with a high school education or less leave the country, a fixed percentage that maintains itself on average of all those who leave, the 'brain drain' from Israel is actually accelerating and worsening," says Prof. Moav. "While Europe, Canada and other parts of the world are aware of the phenomenon and are taking care of it, Israel unfortunately ignores it."
 
One of the main reasons for running away is simple - money. Prof. Moab and his team compared the salary in Israeli universities to the salary in average universities in the USA, and discovered that the salary differences are huge. According to the study, a leading Israeli researcher and lecturer will earn between 60-70 thousand dollars a year. In contrast, an average researcher in the Faculty of Economics in the state of Wisconsin will earn $120 a year, and a top lecturer will earn up to $173. The comparison is also true in other faculties.
MK Braverman: The brain drain is more worrying than the Iranian bomb
"Iran does not bother me, Iran is an international problem that the USA and Europe have to deal with, I am bothered by the flight of brilliant minds from the country" said MK Braverman, formerly the president of Ben Gurion University, in an appearance before students and the investors' club of "Megmat" College of Studies Capital Market.

According to him, "even European countries that massacred us are waiting for our brilliant young people to reach them". He added that the State of Israel subsidizes the rest of the world in that a high percentage of talented young people with science degrees establish start-up companies and leave the country in favor of foreign countries. "Bright young people establish startups, but unfortunately most of them will emigrate and leave the country" he said.

 According to Braverman, Israeli hi-tech makes up only 7% of the Israeli workforce and more should be invested in research and development. We take tremendously talented young people and do not worry that their added value will be expressed in employment."
The Marker website adds that MK Ofir Pines, during the period when he was Minister of Science, considered that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Ministry of Finance were completely indifferent to everything related to matters such as the brain drain from Israel, leaving outstanding scientists in Israel and returning Israeli scientists to the country, as if the future was not in question The Israeli Community. In his meetings with Israeli scientists, researchers and lecturers abroad, mainly in the USA, he got the impression that this was also their impression. Pines noted that together with the chief scientist of his office, Mina Ticher, he met with a Jewish millionaire abroad, who agreed to allocate 10 million shekels for the return of the outstanding scientists to Israel, on the condition that the state would add another 20 million shekels. The RA (Committee of the Heads of the Universities) and the VT (Committee for Planning and Budgeting of the Institutions of Higher Education) agreed to allocate NIS 10 million for the matter, and also to increase standards in institutions of higher education in order to receive Israeli scientists, from the world's top, who will return to the country. Pines says that since his office's limited budget could not finance the project, he turned to the head of the budget department, Kobi Haber, and asked for the missing 10 million shekels, but he did not respond. The result - the project was shelved.