“Why,” ask Dan Senor and Saul Singer in their book The Genius of Israel, “are Israelis so damn happy?” Although the book comes during a period of intense sorrow and worry for the citizens of the Jewish state, studies of global happiness have, year after year, ranked it as one of the world’s happiest countries. In his review, Meir Soloveichik looks at their answer:

In contrast to the atomistic sense of identity cultivated in much of the Western world, and the epidemic of loneliness now affecting so much of America, Israel has succeeded in creating a culture in which individuality is celebrated but is always placed within the context of family, community, and country.

How does it do this? The answer begins with family. The authors emphasize the way in which Israeli society cherishes children, a fact reflected in a birthrate far beyond replacement, even among the secular members of Israeli society. This, in turn, [shapes] the culture of the workplace, as employers are incredibly understanding of the parental responsibility of their employees. . . . Within this familial culture, Jews in Israel are constantly reminded that they are part of a people, and a history. In rituals like the Passover seder, where the story of Exodus is annually retold, Judaism has created what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has called “a nation of storytellers.”

Israelis continue to create families; weddings that had been meant to take place in halls and hotels have been moved to homes and even army bases, with at times both bride and groom wearing the IDF green under the wedding canopy. In one notable story, a soldier returned from the front for one evening to wed the love of his life, and his neighbor offered him a large backyard in which to hold the ceremony. As the groom’s mother prepared for the wedding, her hairdresser asserted that he would ensure Ishay Ribo, one of the most famous singers in Israel, would perform. Ribo did indeed come, singing the song of the Passover seder: “In every generation they rise up to destroy us, and God saves us from their hands.”

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.