Israel is the world's happiest country
Israel is the world's happiest country

Ordinarily, we should not really trust the “happiness ranking” that surfaces every once in a while, considering that it is usually topped by some cold, dark, uninhabited and socialist European country, where people take anti-depressants in high numbers and eat very, very badly (this year Finland topped the list).

But this year, seeing Israel at the 11th place, 7 spots before the United States and 12 before France, with the Palestinian Authority self-ruled territories at 104th, filled me with joy and satisfaction.

The Jews and Israel smile all the time - at life and at the cramped faces of their many, horrid enemies.

The first ten countries in this list experienced their last war 70 years ago. If it weren’t for ISIS’ threats in Europe, the only concern in these societies would be to control the public debt and spending, used to finance the existential entertainment of their own citizens from the cradle to the grave.

Israel spends a fifth of its national budget on defense and security.

A while ago, while unfortunate Syrians were running from Ghouta, the enclave in Damascus at the center of fighting between Assad’s forces and the Islamist rebels, Israelis were running in Tel Aviv, taking part in its marathon. Ehud Barak got many things wrong, but he said it all when he called Israel “the villa in the jungle”.

The truth is that if Israel would not have been at war since 1948, if it were able to survive with no trenches, no gas masks, no atropine syringes, no Iron Dome, no fences, no bunkers, no terrorists at all its borders and within its walls, Israel would be the happiest country in the world. 

Happy Independence Day, Israel!