A recent global study ranks 158 countries in order of the overall happiness of their inhabitants; Israel ranked eleventh—ahead of the U.S., France, and Britain. Aaron David Miller speculates as to why this might be:
[There] is [a] very strong sense of identity that . . . seems to shape the way Israelis look at themselves and the rest of the world. Amidst all the fractiousness and divisiveness, the secular and religious divide, the crudeness of political life, and the unresolved Palestinian problem, there’s still among Israelis I have met over the years a real sense of purpose, community, and pride of accomplishment. So perhaps what at first appears counterintuitive really isn’t.
Nahum Barnea, perhaps one of the keenest observers of Israeli politics and a guy who’s fully attuned to the tremendous challenges facing his country, argues in [a] recent article that this sense of involvement and participation is key. Sure, life in Denmark “is happy: relaxed, leisurely, stable. In Israel, on the other hand, life is good: interesting, dynamic, calling for involvement. Most Israelis, it seems, prefer the good life.”
More about: Community, Denmark, Happiness, Israel & Zionism