Israel, often under stress, is the world’s ninth-happiest country. How did that happen? | Opinion

It didn’t come as a big surprise that Scandinavian countries, once again, came out on top as the happiest in the world in the newly released World Happiness Report, which ranks 146 nations.

But there was a major surprise in this year’s index — Israel.

Israel, a country often on the verge of war, was ranked the ninth-happiest country in the world this year.

As in recent years, the first eight places were taken by Finland, Denmark and Iceland, followed by other European countries. Down the list are Germany (No. 14), Canada (No. 15) the United States (No. 16) China (No. 72) and Russia (No. 80).

Most Latin American countries ranked around the middle of the list. Costa Rica ranked No. 23; Uruguay, No. 30; Brazil, No. 38; Mexico, No. 46; Argentina, No. 57; Colombia, No. 66; Paraguay, No. 73; Peru, No. 74; Ecuador, No. 76; and Venezuela, No. 108.

The annual ranking is published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, an academic group that has submitted its reports to the United Nations since 2012. The annual study is largely based on the Gallup World Poll, which asks people around the globe how satisfied they are with their lives, on a scale of 0 to 10.

Curious about why Israel made it to the world’s top 10 happiness places, despite its political polarization and constant fears of wars or terrorist attacks, I reached out to Tal Ben-Shahar, an Israeli professor of Positive Psychology. He taught one of Harvard University’s most popular classes. He was in Miami to speak at the World Happiness Summit on the same day as the rankings came out.

Ben-Shahar told me that he’s not surprised by Israel’s rise in the happiness rankings. In fact, he said that he wouldn’t be surprised if it climbs to the top of the list in coming years.

First, he said, Israel is a country with a very strong social network.

“The No 1 distinguishing characteristic in happy countries is a very strong social network where there is support from family and friends,” he told me. “As the British philosopher Francis Bacon said, ‘Friendship doubles joy, and cuts grief in half.”

Second, being a country that often has been attacked by its neighbors, and a people who have been victims of persecution for thousands of years gives many Israelis a sense of mutual reliance, he said.

“In times of war, people get together to support each other,” Ben-Shahar told me. “That, and the fact that the Jewish people have been together for several millennia, helps explain their high happiness levels.”

Third, the Israeli army, in which service is mandatory for young men and women, helps unite Israelis with recent immigrants and gives many of them a sense of purpose. One can see a similar phenomenon among those working in Israel’s thriving technology sector, he said.

“It’s not just about relationships, it’s also about a sense of meaning and purpose,” he said.

Richard Layard, a British economist and former parliamentarian who has written several books on happiness and is one of the leading editors of the World Happiness Report, agrees that “social cohesion” is a key element of Israelis’ life-satisfaction levels.

“We know that fellow feeling is a very crucial element in producing happiness,” Layard told me. “And, to an extent, you get fellow feelings when you’re under an external threat.”

Asked why Israel ranks so much higher than Latin American countries where people also have strong family and friendship ties, editors of the report told me that it can be explained by Israel’s high living standards. Israel has a GDP per capita of nearly $44,000 a year, which is higher than France’s and more than three times higher than that of Latin America’s most developed countries, according to the World Bank.

It’s important to note that the World Happiness Report’s polling in Israel included Palestinians living in the country, but not those in the Palestinian territories. People in the Palestinian territories were polled as a separate country, and ranked No. 122 in the world, near the bottom of the list.

There will surely be a hot international debate over whether there are things other countries should learn from Israel, like they can learn from Finland or Denmark. It will be a healthy debate, because there are many things the world can learn from Israel’s virtues, and from its mistakes.

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