WSJ Op-Ed: Israelis are Happy
Photo: Getty Images
In an Op-Ed published May 10, 2016, Avinoam Bar-Yosef details “The Improbable Happiness of Israelis”:
The World Happiness Report 2016 Update ranks Israel (Jews and Arabs) 11th of 158 countries evaluated for the United Nations. Israel also shines as No. 5 of the 36 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries on the OECD’s Life Satisfaction Index—ahead of the U.S., the U.K. and France.
[…]And it isn’t just Jews. Go to any beach or shopping mall and—despite the frictions—you will see Jews and Arabs peacefully coexisting. They all can take pride in their country’s accomplishments, as when Israel faced a water crisis a decade ago and launched a desalination project that is now the envy of the world.
This despite the fact that, as Bar-Yosef notes, “Israelis live in a hostile and volatile neighborhood, engaged in an endless conflict with the Palestinians and under the threat of nuclear annihilation by Iran.” He does not even mention the constant assaults on Israel’s very right to exist, the movement to delegitimize the Jewish state in global fora, the media and at universities around the globe, or the outrageous attempts to deny the unique Jewish connection to the land of Israel and even to the Shoah.
So why are Israelis happy?
As Israel approaches its 68th Independence Day, perhaps Israelis understand that, notwithstanding these challenges—and perhaps in spite of them—they’re doing a bang-up job building a free and democratic society and contributing to the well-being of humanity. Not many countries can say that, least of all Israel’s neighbors.
More from SNAPSHOTS
The Media Ignores Foiled Plot to Assassinate Israel’s Defense Minister
February 20, 2018
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman Israeli authorities foiled a plot to assassinate Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the Shin Bet security service said on Feb. 18, 2018. The Shin Bet’s remarks went widely underreported by major [...]
Huffington Post Arabic, Platform for Hamas Propaganda
February 12, 2018
Feb. 20 Update: Huffington Post Arabic Removes Hamas Propaganda Hamas has found an unlikely platform to amplify its propaganda. Huffington Post Arabic has copied and pasted a Hamas caption, word for word, including language completely [...]
UPDATED:The Washington Post Claims Israel Used Iranian Drone As ‘Pretext’ For Attack
February 10, 2018
The remnants of the Iranian UAV. Picture courtesy of The Times of Israel The Washington Post treated an Iranian attack against Israel with unwarranted skepticism, using the event to unfairly question the motives of the [...]
NY Times: “Hard-Line” Jews Support Recognition of Jerusalem as Capital
February 8, 2018
A New York Times news story about this morning's National Prayer Breakfast broad-brushes American Jews who back recognition of Israel's capital in Jerusalem as hard-liners. In the article, White House correspondent Mark Lander asserts: Mr. [...]
‘Moderate’ Palestinian ‘Peace Negotiator’ Outraged Over U.S. Designation of Hamas Terrorist
February 1, 2018
Ismail Haniyeh On Jan. 31, 2018 the United States State Department announced that top Hamas operative Ismail Haniyeh was now listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Less than twenty-four hours later, the Palestinian [...]
Echoes of the Past: German Tanks and the Turkish Government Assaulting Minorities
January 31, 2018
An article in the German newspaper Deutsche Welle reports on the consternation of members of the German government over the use of German Leopard tanks by the Turkish army in its cross-border invasion of the [...]