Brain drain dulls Israel's tech edge, Minister warns

Zionist regime is slowly losing its technological leadership and might "lose the global battleground" in technology, if it does not reverse the current brain drain and reduction in R&D budgets, forewarned Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor.

"We must do more to reduce the brain drain and absorb skilled Israelis who live abroad, in the academy and in the industry." said Elyahu Yishai in a statement.

"We are a technological superpower but unfortunately we see a regression, which I associate with the reduction in the research and development budgets. There is also evidence of a massive reduction in research budgets in universities. We are now losing the future infrastructure of the innovative industry."

Yishai nominated Roi Madai from his ministry to prepare a plan that will fight the brain drain from the country.

According to some estimates, more than 20,000 Israelis have relocated to foreign headquarters or sites of multinational companies.

Roughly, 25 percent of all academic lecturers leave Palestine occupied territories, according to Dan Ben David, director of the public policy department at Tel Aviv University.

The most striking finding in a study cited last year by the Bank of Israel is the very high rate of emigration for new immigrants, who came mostly from the former Soviet Union. For engineers, there is a huge gap in the rate of emigrating from Israel between new immigrants and the other two groups. Engineers who are new immigrants left occupied territories at a rate of 9.4 percent, while the rates for natives and veteran immigrants are 1.45 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.

According to a study last year by Israel's Shalem Center shows, in the period from 2000 through 2004, there was a sharp increase in the brain drain from Israel. In 2002, 0.9 percent of the researchers and professors left Palestine occupied territories. In 2004, this rate rose to 1.7 percent. In 2002, 1.3 percent of the teachers left Israel and in 2004, this rate rose to 2.1 percent.