Israel Ranked 11th Happiest Country in the World

March 21, 2017

by: Ilse Posselt

Tuesday, 21 March 2017 | Six years ago, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly launched a survey to gauge the global happiness levels of its member states. The findings obtained from each of the UN’s 155 members were noted, processed and released as the first international report on global happiness in 2012. Known officially as the World Happiness Report, the document became a tool that allows heads of states to measure where their citizens fall on the global happiness scale.

This year’s report was published on Monday, scoring 2017’s happiest countries from the most to the least. The first ten slots went to the usual happiness superpowers like Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland and the Netherlands, nations known for northern lights, neutrality, cheese and wooden clogs. The 11th spot on the list went to Israel, a tiny nation embroiled in endless conflict and controversy, surrounded by hostile neighbors plotting its destruction.

The top 10 countries this year are Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. Although the Jewish state did not make the top ten, the people of the Promised Land are happier than the Americans, the British, the Germans and more than a 140 other nations. The bottom ten spots on the list went to Yemen, South Sudan, Liberia, Guinea, Togo, Rwanda, Syria, Tanzania, Burundi and the Central African Republic.

Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks countries by happiness levels according to six main factors: gross domestic product per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, individual freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption. The survey results are aimed at providing the powers that be with a tool to uplift the well-being of their citizens.

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) at the UN and the Columbia University work together to compile and publish the report annually to coincide with UN World Happiness Day on March 20.

This is not the first time Israel secured a top spot on the World Happiness Report. The reports for the past four years all awarded the people of the Promised Land the 11th slot. The first report which saw the light in 2012 placed Israel in the 14th position.

The World Happiness Report is not the only official document testifying to the presence of abundant joy in the Promised Land. According to the 2015 Better Life Index report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Jewish state is one of the top five happiest countries on earth. The Israelis share this joyful honor with the Danes, Swiss, Norwegians and Finns.

Moreover, according to the 2015 Family Life Index poll published by InterNations, the Promised Land is the fourth best place in the world to raise a family. Only Austria, Finland and Sweden reportedly offer a better environment for children to grow up in than Israel.

The Jewish state’s high rankings on official happiness lists have long since been a cause of speculation. In every conventional and hedonistic sense, the happiness odds appear to be stacked quite decidedly against those who call the Promised Land home.

On the security side of things, Israel is the only democracy wedged into one of the world’s most volatile regions. Its neighbors are at best inhospitable; at worst, violently opposed to its existence and making the Jewish state’s destruction their aim. Israel’s citizens are in the crosshairs of every terror group in the neighborhood, and the country has fought at least one major war every decade since its rebirth.

Moreover, the Jewish people are heirs to a legacy and history so tragic that it calls for three official annual days of mourning every year. On top of that, nearly 70 years after the establishment of the modern State of Israel, it remains one of the only countries in the world whose right to exist is called into question, its borders disputed, its exports embargoed and its efforts to defend itself vilified.

Over the years, speculation has been rife as to the wellspring of happiness for the people of the Promised Land. Many have argued cohesion, a sense of family and belonging, while others have pointed to the country’s thriving economy and status as a high-tech superpower.

Yet perhaps the source of Israel’s happiness comes from something ingrained in the hearts and minds of Jewish people throughout generations. “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,” (Psalm 146:5), the psalmist declared thousands of years ago. Perhaps then the people of Israel have always known the secret joy unlimited.

Posted on March 21, 2017

Source: (Bridges for Peace, 21 March 2017)

Photo Credit: Noam Armonn/ Shutterstock