Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The war in Gaza is prompting some Jewish Israelis to leave their country. The vast majority of Jewish Israelis support the defeat of Hamas as essential to the country's security, but some have decided it's time to go. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi met one couple as they packed.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: It's been a stressful couple of weeks at the Green household. Piles of clothing, books and kids toys have taken over the place.
INBAL GREEN: At this point, I have no idea what I need or what I don't need.
AL-SHALCHI: Inbal and her husband, Shlomy Green, are packing up their suburban home just outside of Tel Aviv. Along with their dog, cat and 4-year-old daughter, Riley, they're leaving Israel for Thailand.
SHLOMY GREEN: Now, we have to sort through the entire house and decide only what we want to take with us, and the rest we have to give away or sell. That's why the house is in complete shambles right now.
AL-SHALCHI: The Greens, who were both born and raised in Israel, are part of a rising number of Jewish Israelis looking for jobs abroad and leaving. With the country's shaky political and security situation, many say they've always toyed with the idea of leaving, but then - October 7. Shlomy says that date was a trigger for their final decision. The Greens felt they weren't safe in their own country, and didn't feel the government did enough to protect them.
S GREEN: The thing is, we want to feel safe and secure in our home, and we're not willing to compromise on that.
AL-SHALCHI: In the early morning, they started getting text messages from family and friends, telling them the news of the Hamas-led attacks. Worried the attacks may spread, the Greens were on one of the last flights to Cyprus by noon that day.
S GREEN: We felt like we were fleeing. We were basically just being thankful that we left in time.
AL-SHALCHI: The Greens spent two months abroad - until reality hit. Their health insurance stopped paying their bills. Shlomy broke his leg. His employer wanted him back in Israel, so back home it was, but by then, Inbal says their decision was clear - leave Israel for good.
I GREEN: It's not a conversation. It's a goal.
AL-SHALCHI: The Greens say it's hard to answer definitively if they support the war in Gaza or not. Shlomy says he used to believe that peace was possible with Palestinians, but after the Hamas attack, he's unsure. A software developer, he applied for jobs all over the world, landing one in Thailand.
S GREEN: There is very low or non-existent antisemitism rates there right now, almost no pro-Palestinian protests. The life is very calm there, which is what we are looking for. We're looking for a calm, safe life.
AL-SHALCHI: Liam Schwartz is a labor and corporate immigration lawyer at one of Israel's largest law firms.
LIAM SCHWARTZ: What makes this year unique is really October 7.
AL-SHALCHI: He helps Israeli businesses relocate their workers to parent companies in the U.S, and works with families who want to move there. Schwartz says he sees hundreds of cases a year, but his workload has increased by at least 40% in the last few months.
SCHWARTZ: I've never been this busy, ever, in my career. I expected a busy relocation season, but this is way beyond expectations.
AL-SHALCHI: Schwartz says many Israeli companies are gearing up for a worst-case scenario - of an all-out war at the Israel-Lebanon border - by relocating entire teams to the U.S. Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire since the conflict in Gaza started more than nine months ago. Schwartz says he's also seeing Israelis pressure their employers to sponsor them for work visas in the States.
SCHWARTZ: Because they just no longer feel comfortable here. The companies are interested in not losing talent, so many of them are just saying yes.
AL-SHALCHI: And Schwartz admits it's a privileged position to be in.
SCHWARTZ: For, let's say, high-tech jobs, there's always going to be some kind of work visa option. For the woman who, you know, sweeps the floor where I work, there's basically nothing there.
AL-SHALCHI: It's hard to put a number on how many Jewish Israelis are leaving the country. The Central Bureau of Statistics doesn't keep track of emigration rates, and the evidence - for now - is mainly anecdotal. Some Israelis say they just can't be associated with the war in Gaza, which has killed over 39,000 Palestinians.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in non-English language).
AL-SHALCHI: At a weekly protest in Tel Aviv, Hadar Behrendt holds up a sign saying, nine months already, referring to the length of the war in Gaza and how some of the hostages are still there. She says she doesn't want to be ashamed of what Israel has become.
HADAR BEHRENDT: It's like being foreign in my own country. We are kidnapped by this government.
AL-SHALCHI: Behrendt says her family escaped Germany in 1936, and now she's using a German passport to leave Israel and move to Greece.
BEHRENDT: And it's very hard for us. All our family is here, but I can't be part of this.
AL-SHALCHI: Inbal Green, packing for her family's departure, says her grandmother survived the Holocaust and settled in Israel, but Inbal doesn't want her daughter to carry the burden of Israel's instability.
I GREEN: The country suffers from PTSD. I don't want her to carry that on her tiny shoulders. She doesn't deserve that. I don't want to carry that anymore. You know what? I think it's OK to say, I don't want to carry that anymore. I want to breathe.
AL-SHALCHI: Inbal says their government owes them security. She says she herself spent 14 years as a reservist, and now only her daughter could draw her back to Israel.
I GREEN: If she grows up and she decides to come back to join the army when she's 18, I would come back with her for her service here.
AL-SHALCHI: Leaving open the possibility that her daughter will one day feel a sense of duty to the country they're leaving behind. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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