Tel Aviv. Photo: wiki commons.

Just because Israel sits at the center of a war-torn region and is surrounded by enemies doesn’t mean its citizens don’t keep a positive outlook.

According to a new report published on Monday, based on research carried out by The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Israel is the 11th happiest country on earth, now 3 places higher than it ranked in last year’s report; and trending counter to other countries in the region, which have seen an 11.7% drop in happiness since the report was first published in 2005.

“Israelis have always been perceived as an optimistic people,” Effi Gil, a medical psychology expert, told Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot. “If you look at the polls published on Rosh Hashana, it seems that most of the population is satisfied with life,” he said.

“There is a higher sense of freedom, constant hope for improvement in the economy, for improvement in security and a feeling that in comparison to that countries that surround us, we are in a favorable position and thus, there is a relatively high level of satisfaction for Israelis with their lives,” Gil noted.