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Why Israelis Are So Happy

(Wall Street Journal) Gil Troy - America has fallen out of the top 20 countries on the 2024 World Happiness Index. Israel finished fifth. Amid unspeakable suffering, Israelis have found comfort in one another and a higher calling. Israelis pursue happiness through family and community, by feeling rooted and having a sense of purpose. Belonging to communities teaches citizens to care about and cooperate with others. Despite disagreeing passionately, Israelis live in an intimate society that runs on trust and generates hope. Israelis feel they're never alone, and that their relatives and friends will never abandon them. Israelis don't count in days and decades but in millennia and eternity. They feel part of a bigger story, Jews' historical saga reaching back 3,500 years. Compare anti-Israel progressive students with their Israeli soldier peers. The pinched ideology of many protesters deems the U.S. systemically racist and is intent on sorting everyone by "gender identity" and skin color. They pessimistically compete for reparations and indulgences and trash traditional families, religion and America's noble story. Israelis didn't seek this war - but when attacked, they unleashed a patriotism, idealism, self-sacrifice and grit. Israelis' resilience, duty and love of life explain how this often polarized and besieged society remains such a happy place. Rather than demonize these heroes, protesters could learn from Israelis about the art of living. The writer is an American presidential historian and senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute.
2024-04-09 00:00:00
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