The Curious Case of the Against-All-Odds Happy Israel
Every March, the World Happiness Report ranks nations from most to least happy. In 2025, Israel placed eighth globally, just behind Sweden and ahead of Luxembourg and Australia. A slight drop from fifth the previous year, it was still remarkable for a country that had endured more than a year of war following the October 7 massacre.
As we wait for the 2026 report next month to reveal whether Israel will retain its spot among the top ten despite the effects of two years of war, it is worth asking: what makes Israel so consistently happy when conventional wisdom suggests otherwise?
The top of the happiness rankings is typically dominated by Nordic nations like Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. These are countries associated with social harmony, functional bureaucracy and cradle-to-grave welfare systems. Affluent, secure First World nations with flourishing economies, none have known war in seven decades. As established democracies situated amongst equally prosperous and peace-loving neighbors, the threat of sudden violence or terror remains far from their borders.
Israel is an altogether different story.
Life in the Crosshairs
The only democracy wedged into one of the world's most hostile regions, the Jewish state has fought at least one major war every decade since its rebirth. Its neighbors range from coldly unfriendly to openly desirous of Israel's demise.
Every Israeli knows what an air raid siren sounds like and every Israeli has spent considerable time in bomb shelters while a terrifying wail screams death from the sky. And most Israelis older than 18 have given years of their lives to defend their home from those who would take it by force.
Beyond security concerns, Israel remains one of the only countries whose right to exist is questioned, borders contested and efforts to defend itself vilified. The international media continues to feed distorted footage to a hungry global audience ready to shout condemnation.
In every conventional sense, the happiness odds seem stacked decidedly against Israel. Yet Israelis remain cheerful, joyous, satisfied and content. So what on earth do the people of the Promised Land have to be so happy about?
The Secret Ingredient
According to the 2025 World Happiness Report, the answer lies in something Israel excels at: social connection. Young Israelis rate the quality of their social support higher than any other country in the world. In short, Israelis have people to turn to. And this makes all the difference.
Strong relationships serve as a critical resource for coping with adversity. Happiness doesn’t shield people from pain, but it helps them recover faster when they face hardship alongside those who care about them.
In tiny Israel, everybody qualifies as part of the family. There is much yelling and complaining, to be sure, but at the end of the day, Israelis have faced enough together to form strong bonds and loving concern for one another. They stick together and make sure family members are taken care of. If you are Israeli, you are part of the family that is Israel.
L'Chaim: To Life!
The source of Israel's joy runs deeper still. Happiness, it turns out, is a zest for life. And nobody celebrates life as zealously as the Jewish people.
Judaism is fundamentally about life. They love, cherish and embrace life. It is at the heart of their culture, even for secular Jews. This celebration does not mean denial. Israelis are keenly aware of the perils and pressures. Yet they refuse to allow problems to keep them from life. They choose to live zealously in spite of hardships, almost in defiance of them.
A clarification is needed. In Israel, secular doesn’t mean what it does in the West, where it’s often equated with atheism. Here, it simply describes someone who doesn’t follow rabbinical law. Many Israelis—across all levels of observance—know the Hebrew Scriptures well. Biblical values run deep in the national psyche, and people’s lives are shaped, consciously or not, by a love for or at least a respect for God and His Word.
A Life of Meaning and Purpose
Without purpose, life becomes a frantic rush to fill a void. In Israel, purpose is woven into the nation itself. Even amid debates about what exactly that purpose should be, the story of the Promised Land gives life deep meaning.
Moreover, the belief that each person was created for a purpose is central to Jewish culture. Israelis strive to make the world better, serving humanity and being a light to the nations. Their humanitarian efforts are global. When disaster strikes, they are often first to assist. This selfless service gives life purpose, which in turn leads to fulfillment and joy.
For the Jewish people, living purposefully is the ultimate response to suffering. Holocaust survivors, having lost entire families, rejected vengeance. Choosing life—marriage, children, grandchildren, longevity despite trauma—was their proof of resilience and victory over those who sought their destruction.
This spirit continues today. Eli Sharabi spent 491 days in Hamas captivity, enduring darkness, chains, humiliation and terror. When released in February 2025, he learned his wife and daughters had been murdered, and his brother had been killed in captivity. Yet Sharabi chose life. Each morning, he embraces action and hope, refusing bitterness. For him and countless others, living fully, purposefully and joyfully is the ultimate resistance to evil, a testimony to human resilience.
Despite their history, Israelis do not embrace a victim mentality. Their national anthem, HaTikvah—“The Hope”—captures the essence of life in this nation: a belief that together, they can make the world a better place. Purpose, service and hope remain at the heart of the Israeli spirit.
Yet when all is said and done, the Jewish state's joy springs from a single source: the God of Israel. One of the most important elements among the people is the awareness of the existence and presence of God in their lives.
The God of Israel is interwoven into the history, present and future of Israel. To many Israelis, God is a living reality. Their very existence testifies to that.
Judging by the world's conventional standards, the Jewish state should not be as cheerful, joyous, satisfied and content. Yet life in the Promised Land remains happy. And that says something profound about the world's standards.
“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,” the psalmist declared thousands of years ago (Ps. 146:5). Perhaps the people of Israel have always known the secret to unlimited joy.
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