... is the fact that Israel ranks 8th in the world in life expectancy (80.7), which exceeds most of Europe, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

We have made it all happen in 60 unpeacefull years.

Think of all Israel has gone through and all the bashing it receives, it still manages to be one of the best countries in the world. This makes me proud as a Jew :)

Amen to that :D

Ms Clark when did you buy lately a pair of shoes on Broadway? $300 minimum. The same online $ 65 from the USA. Artichokes, eggplants, capsicums by the unit- at $3.90 to $2.50 respectively? Shrink wrapped cucumber at $$4.90 each? Waiting list for urgent surgery in which people die before their appointment? Leaky building syndrome – people suffer with asthma, chronic lung diseases from humidity and mould as result of poor building regulations? How about drive under the influence of alcohol, wipe off whole families and get 3 months community service? Invest in finance companies, lose your life savings and find that no regulations exist? Ya right; we are simply the best on paper. I bet if you as the former Prime sinister were not part of this report, New Zealand would rank 3rd from the bottom

Which is why the world hates us. no natural resources, one very powerful human resource, and ONE G-D that loves us. Makes us a success... but not very popular.

hameed aboughaze, iranian

Ani shoel atsmi....Ma ani oseh po?

considering the absence of business relationship with many neighbor countires, this is extreme acheivement for the jewish state. AM ISRAEL HAI

NZ has a very open economy - who is stopping you from importing as many pairs of $65 shoes from America as you want rather than paying $200 on Broadway? Sounds to me more like a business opportunity than a cause for tears. Or are you learning tricks from Palywood?

"School enrolment in Arab countries nearly doubled over 40 years, from 34 per cent in 1970 to 64 per cent today." That means that 66 percent of Arab adults are uneducated, while 36 percent of Arab kids are not in school. Not in school? The vast majority of the Arab population is under the age of 18. That's millions, possibly tens of millions of kids growing up illiterate and uneducated. And we wonder what they do with all those mega-billions in oil profits...

$300? Where? I insist you tell me! I pay way more than that for a decent pair of shoes. Then again, I bet I earn a whole lot more than the average Kiwi, so perhaps it's just a matter of having more spending cash. I guess you just neglected to mention earning capacity in your little rant, didn't you? By the way, I think you screwed up your countries in referring to urgent surgery. Why is it that in a country such as Canada, with universal health care that everyone considers the world's best model, do thousands of Canadians flock south every day for life-saving surgery? Hmm ..... do tell me .... Please don't make it sound as if building mold is deliberately ignored. It just happens. Treated where it can be; where it cannot, it's up to the individual homeowner as to whether they wish to remain or not. And it has nothing to do with poor building regulation. It's a contagion -- mostly do to poor home care by the individual homeowner. Smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, radon testing, lead paint testing -- the United States was the first country in the world to implement those. What can a country do to curb driving under the influence of alcohol? That's kind of an individual's choice. Should we ban all cars? Bartenders will confiscate the keys and refuse to serve people who become impaired. Three months community service? How little you know. Vehicular manslaughter buys you 15 years to life. 30 years to life if you have a record for driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI). There are plenty of regulations with respect to the protection of investors. But you have to be a complete idiot to invest your life savings in any one entity, now, don't you? You cannot protect people from themselves, but there is no shortage either of hedge fund operators and institution investor corporate officers serving hefty sentences in the Federal penitentiaries across the United States. I've been to your lovely country. There oughtta be a law protecting vehicle operators who have to wait while frickin' sheep cross the damn road.

I'll take G-d's love over popularity any old day! The success part has been a nice dividend. There aren't too many peoples, ethnicities or religions that can claim the astounding contributions in every endeavor that have been made by Jews -- a tiny fraction of the world's population. Here, too -- I'll take being responsible for incredible medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and an unparalleled record contributions to civilization and humanity over popularity any old time. Besides -- there is so much hypocrisy on the part of those who do not like us. I know plenty of people who do not like Jews, and criticize them openly, who would never dream of denying their child the polio vaccine, rejecting a pacemaker if necessary, declining chemotherapy (well over half of the chemotherapy protocols in use in the world today come out of Israel; most of the balance come from the Jewish-dominated research teams throughout the United States). I doubt there are very many non-Jews who would contemplate giving up their cell phones (yeah, more Israeli technology at work) or would refuse to wear blue jeans (Levi Strauss was, after all, Jewish) or decline to use lipstick (Max Factor, too, was Jewish). The list goes on, but there's no need to replay it all here. Easily found by googling; a good place to start would be "Jewish Nobel Prize winners." Ah, powerful human resource indeed.

I ask myself the same thing. As my mother (z.l.) used to say whenever I declared that I would like to visit Poland, "Poland? Poland? Me, I was born there. I couldn't wait to leave!" Shabbat shalom, Mark.

New Zealand has a human populatiion of 3 million ,not too difficult to govern and a sheep population of many more millions ,what,s the big deal ?

You forgot to mention the number one favorite Arab/Palestinian pasttime-ston e throwing that doesn,t have any life skills whatsoever for millions of Arab/Palestinan youth ,hence the 66% of uneducated and 36 % of non school going ,it figures Brian ?

Feh.

We are doing OK. I am happy. We still have a long way to go but hey, we are ahead of Finland, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria and the United Kingdom! No bad, for a country under constant threats, condemation, boycotts, fighting for its survival.

He is always writing things about Israels weakness and Turkey's greatness and economic boom. is Turkey ranked 83 while Israel came 15.

- It's not the only list - It's from the UN - On other lists of different sources I've seen Israel much lower - Israel is surrounded by enemies - Far away from allies (whom we anger daily) - Maybe we should concentrate on peace first? Or something close? All these lists and statistics mean nothing in reality.

I am happy that you did'nt put Iran, Iraq, Somalia... etc in your list of references.