Oh I remember my wasted youth very well indeed. How sweet it is........

Could Arabs be happier in a Jewish rather than in a Muslim "paradise"? That's the main reason for Arab states waging wars and terror against Israel - because Israel is a living proof that Arabs living in a non-Muslim democracy feel much better than in a Muslim tyranny. Oh yes, and let's not forget the racism, violence and genocide preached by Islam.

Despite Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Lybia, Iran... and Muhamad.

Aren't you glad you live next door to such a happy place? Where did the West Bank and Gaza Strip rank, just out of curiosity? It's incredible that in spite of the Pali's and Arab's best efforts at the contrary, Israel is filled with contented and jolly people. Awesome!

If we consider the following: 1. Palestine=Israel 2. Palestinians=Jews/Israelis Palestine has always been synonymous with The Land Of Israel, and Jews have always been called to "go to Palestine". Salma, you are right: Israel's (Palestine's) achievements are all thanks to its people: the Jews and other loyal and productive Israelis.

I'm sure the whites were happy during the american slavery era. Still doesn't make it right.

arab or muslim in israel is happier than all his brothers and sisters in all arab and muslim countries combined. hameed aboughaze, iranian

i think you are confused salma. it is the other way around. it is thanks to the genius, productivity, modernity and hard hard work of jewish israelis that the palestinians enjoy a much higher life quality than all arabs put together in all arab countries. also, when you look at how arab leaders in syria, lebanon, jordan, egypt, saudi arabia and kuwait treat the palestinians and the camps they still contain them in, i would say palestrinians are enjoying israeli democracy and life style 100% better than the places i mentioned before. do not bite the hand that feeds you, sister. if you wanted to live and be happy like israelis, you would have stopped terror even before the occupation, before 1967 and tried to build a country, a civil society and prosperity. but, you chose hate and terror and wasted whole generation of talented young palestinians to hate and to die...for nothing. because there was no occupation up to 1967. none! and you still created terror for the jewish people in israel with the fedayin, etc... hameed aboughaze, iranian

there is no israeli occupation in most arab muslim countries of the world. yet, as you see, according to this findings, the people living in those arab muslim countries are the unhappiest in the world. is israeli occupation there too? fool! hameed aboughaze, iranian

Many Israelis will not criticise Israel publicly, but that does not mean they are happy about living there. So there is no way that Forbes Magazine can tell me that Israelis are happier than Germans, Austrians and Swiss. Because unlike Israel, these countries are not at war continuously, have a higher quality of living, offer a higher income and less taxes on it's people, and are optically more beautiful. You can go on any internet search engine, click images, and see how clean these countries are in comparison to Israel. And none of these countries has 21% of the population living below the poverty line. I have travelled to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and I know that the people there are much happier than Israelis. There may be some Jews working for Forbes Magazine who have the power to put Israel in a top spot on there list of happiness, but this not true. Let's keep things real. Israel need's work.

What a silly talkback. If you don't think that people tell the truth then that would go for everywhere. Anyway, culturally different things make different people happy. A lot of Israel's poor are haredim who CHOOSE not to work, so they are presumably happy with their choice. The fact that family plays such a big part in Israeli society is also another big happiness factor. The weather is another one and so is the jewish lifestyle. In Europe the weather and the people are much, much colder. Maybe living in Canada which has similar coldness on both counts made you like Germany and Switzerland. However, you cant possibly talk for us and the last bit of your talkback says loud and "don't blind me with facts' and if very antisemetic.

When you live in Israel or know anything about it.....you can make that judgement call Stop watching Al Jazeera and face it-despite everything, we're a happy people

I came from Germany to live in Israel. #15 is right saying that different cultures determine what makes them happy in a different way. Germany is richer and cleaner and all but the grumpier nation ever. But if Israel was like Germany in terms of peace, prices, order and taxes, Israelis would have been even happier than what they are now, for sure :) So yes, Israel has a lot of issues to work on to improve people's quality of life, compared to Western Europe. So #15, stop calling every critique to Israel antisemitic, this is pathetic. It is also true that patriotism here is on a level much higher than anywhere else and people are a bit brainwashed to praise everything. But hey, if this makes them happy, let them live with this, why not :)

.....on how you measure "happiness". While generally speaking Israelis are not really unhappy their lot in life is inferior to most European countries like Germany. #13 was just making a straightforward point - no need to overreact and bleat about antisemitism. Basically Germany is happy because of - BEER and titties........

is germany, switzerland, other european countries, etc... ALL JEWISH????? no, they are almost 100% christians and these christians were also polled, moron. the jews in israel are only a fraction of a percentage of world population while christians polled were in the majoroty to say the least. yet, forbes did indeed find that israelis as a whole are happier than most european nations.

they didn;t poll any non jews????? what a stupid statement. really. is germany, france, switzerland, england, etc... JEWISH????? YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT TRHEY SELECTED JEWS ONLY FROM ALL OVER EUROPE AND DIDN;T POLL A SINGLE CHRISTIAN? YOU MORON.

19 was suggesting that they must not have polled any non-jewish Israelis. You are the MORON.

This conclusion is ridiculous - I was happy growing up in the USA - but the smile on my face faded here ! Don't misunderstand, I love this country but with all our wars and terrorist attacks it's a bit difficult to keep smiling.

i am from germany and now live in israel. regarding the facts, you are right: germany is richer, cleaner and more secure than. however, germans are not happy at all. they complain all the time about everything, and instead of looking forward to anything, they are scared of everything in the future. grim faces all over the place is the result. in israel, people simply have a more positive view of most things, and they enjoy life, even with all the hardships.

Finland has a very high drinking rate and Switzerland has a high suicide rate. In Israel there are plenty of problems, but despite all their kvetching, Israelis are warm and friendly and involved in other people's lives...for better or worse!! Their lives are never dull, that's for sure!

As you said Israel a happy country ! It's a fact nobody can contradict it. I've visited Israel number of times, and each time searched for visible reason, for the obvious happiness, Sadly, lot's of people around the world unhappy to hear about the Israelis being cheerful and happy. Perhaps because against the odds, they are better of than their Arab neighbours.

An unhappy king sent his servants to find the happiest man in the world, in order to purchase this man's shirt. This was after a wise man advised the king to find happyness by donning this garment. Eventually came the reply from one of the servants:"Have found the happiest man in the world. He does not own nor wear any shirt!" So too is our happyness non-dependent on goods or posessions. We too have learned that "he who is most happy is content with his lot", a saying taught at Israeli schools and ulpans by even the least profound of our teachers.