In many ways, Israel is in a horrible situation. The war with Hamas has been dragging on for more than a year-and-a-half with no conclusion in sight. Fifty-nine hostages, fewer than half of whom are still believed to be alive, remain in Gaza. And after a hiatus of sorts due to the war, the current government is charging full steam ahead to try to undermine the gatekeepers of Israeli democracy – the Supreme Court, the attorney general’s office and the Shin Bet security agency.

Last week, there was pandemonium outside the Supreme Court courtroom where a panel of justices was hearing petitions challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to fire the director of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.

The timing of the attempted dismissal is very suspicious because it’s coming in the middle of a Shin Bet investigation of senior advisers to the prime minister who are alleged to have done work on the side for the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. At least one aide is suspected of receiving his salary for working at the Prime Minister’s Office from Qatar.

But there’s more to Israel than the day’s headlines. Israel remains one of the happiest countries in the world, according to the 2025 United Nation’s Annual Happiness Report. The report is based on averages over three years, from 2022 through 2024, which means that much of the period surveyed was either during mass pro-democracy protests or wartime.

Unsurprisingly, Israel dropped in the rankings, which were published last month, but it remains in the top 10, slipping from the world’s fifth-happiest country to the eighth happiest. The United States is ranked 24th.

I’ve never regretted moving here from Cleveland in 1999. The country has been through tremendous difficulties since, but on a day-to-day basis, it offers a high quality of life. That includes a vibrant cultural and restaurant scene, great beaches, a fascinating mix of people, the pleasures of three very different major cities – Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv – and a sense of belonging to a Jewish state that can’t be replicated anywhere else.

I recall a conversation that I had years ago with my younger daughter when she was in her teens. We were talking about why Israelis have among the highest life expectancies in the world. I suggested that it could be because of Israel’s public health system, but as my daughter saw it, Israelis live longer because they have Tel Aviv and having Tel Aviv makes them happy.

Writing in Haaretz last month – where I work – Nissan Shor had a more nuanced view. He was scathing about the direction the country has taken, but his article’s main focus was how much Israelis who have left the country love coming back because “it’s fun here.”

“It’s fun here because there’s freedom, yes freedom, despite everything. Despite the constant distress, the pressure and the tension, there’s high energy and a burning desire for enjoyment and release,” Shor wrote. “There’s joy and there’s happiness in every corner and every hole in the wall. The visitors from abroad identify all the good features that still remain, and they have remained. They see the beauty through the ugliness. There’s culture and music and arts and dance and there are things to see and to hear and there’s also good food,” he noted. “And there are creative young people with an appetite for life and there’s marvelous weather, simply marvelous. Amazing Middle Eastern sun. I don’t know if it’s worth all the problems, all the crying, all the sorrow, but it’s worth a lot.”

This isn’t a happy time in Israel, but according the UN, it’s a very happy place. I think that’s because it really is fun here.

Cliff Savren is a former Clevelander who covers the Middle East from Ra’anana, Israel. He is an editor at the English edition of Haaretz.