Money contributes to happiness by providing a sense of control over life, and more money leads to a greater feeling of freedom, though it is not the only factor in happiness, according to a new study.

Wealthy individuals, including millionaires and billionaires, are reported to be "substantially and statistically significantly happier" than those with lower incomes, with the happiness gap being wider between wealthy and middle-income individuals compared to middle- and low-income.

The new results dispute previous studies that suggested money only buys happiness up to a certain level—an annual income of $75,000 annually. According to the new analysis, the difference in happiness between wealthy and middle-income participants is nearly three times larger than the difference between middle and low-income participants.

Money may boost happiness up to an income of at least $500,000 a year, according to the recent survey data, with the trend extending further to the ultrawealthy, suggesting money may have a more fundamental role in happiness beyond just buying things.

Having more wealth provides more choices and a greater sense of autonomy, affecting life satisfaction, and lower levels of life satisfaction are reported by the poorest people compared to the more affluent.

Multiple studies have found a positive association between money and happiness, especially for those with higher incomes, though the relationship is complex.

Sources: The Guardian, The Economic Times, Inquirer.net, Money.ro, DC News Now, Men's Journal, Correio da Manhã, Quartz

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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• Single Income: For many single-parent homes, there is only one income source. This limits the ability to save, invest or handle large expected or unexpected expenses.
• Divided Attention: Single household heads must balance work with other household duties, which can hinder career advancement and diligent budgeting.
• High Expenses: Some household expenses are relatively high when based on a single income.
• Retirement Planning: Building an emergency fund for periods of reduced income is crucial.

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According to the report, Israel is ranked 38 in terms of economic freedom among 162 countries and territories nationwide, a drop of one place since the last report was issued.

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The rankings gave Israel a score of 7.53 out of 10 for economic freedom, which was lower than the average score in OECD countries.

The nations that earned the top rankings for economic freedom were Hong Kong and Singapore, followed by New Zealand, Switzerland, the US, Ireland, Britain, Canada, Australia, and Mauritius.

The nations whose economic freedom was ranked lowest included Iraq, Egypt, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Libya, and Venezuela.

The rankings of the report were based on data from 2017 and evaluated five main categories: government size (public expenditure on government), the legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation.

For sound money, Israel scored 9.38. The more problematic areas were in government size, a category in which Israel was ranked 82^nd, with a score of 6.47. However, since 1980, Israel has steadily improved in that category since 1980, when the economy was almost entirely controlled by the government and Israel received a particularly low ranking of 2.33. In 2015, Israel was given a score of 6.31.

In the legal system and property rights category, Israel was scored 6.2.

For regulation, Israel was ranked 62^nd. Israel performed worst when it came to the labor market, where it was ranked 121 on the list.

Generally speaking, a high level of economic freedom benefits most citizens. In 2017, the per capita gross domestic product of the nations in the top quartile of the rankings stood at $36,700 per year – six times that of the countries in the bottom quartile of the rankings. Likewise, the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty, (defined as $1.90/day) in the countries with the most economic freedom was only 1.8%, compared to 27.2% in the countries with the least economic freedom.

Corinne Parenti, co-founder and director of the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, told Israel Hayom that "the next government needs to focus mainly on removing regulatory obstacles and reducing government intervention in the market."

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The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority has suffered a series of financial blows in the past year.

Under interim peace deals, Israel collects taxes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and makes monthly payments to the PA, which says it receives around $222 million each month.

The Finance Ministry said on Wednesday it collects about 700 million shekels ($193 million) in Palestinian taxes and transfers around 600 million shekels of that to the Palestinian Authority after deducting payments for electricity, water, sewage and medical treatment services. On Sunday, Israel said it would freeze about 5% of that against stipends the Palestinian Authority pays to families of Palestinian terrorists killed or jailed by Israel.

In remarks made late on Tuesday and broadcast on Palestinian radio on Wednesday, Abbas said the PA would continue to pay out these stipends rather than accept a partial transfer of the tax revenues from Israel.

"We reject the tax, we don't want it," Abbas told visiting U.S. congressmen. "Frankly, if we are left with only 20 or 30 million shekels, which is the sum paid to families of martyrs, then we will pay them to the families of martyrs," he said.

Israel and the United States say the stipend policy fans Palestinian violence while the Palestinians see the slain and jailed Palestinian terrorists as heroes of a national struggle.

The United States last year passed legislation to sharply reduce aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it stopped the payouts. The measure, known as the Taylor Force Act, was named after a 29-year-old American military veteran fatally stabbed by a Palestinian while visiting Israel in 2016.

Last month the Palestinians declined some $60 million in U.S. annual funding for their security forces, worried about exposure to lawsuits under new U.S. anti-terror laws.

Washington has further slashed hundreds of millions of dollars to humanitarian organizations and U.N. agencies which aid the Palestinians as it seeks to pressure Abbas to enter peace negotiations with Israel. Peace talks have been frozen since 2014.

The Palestinians suspended ties with Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017 and opened the new U.S. Embassy in the city in May.

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Later Tuesday, Israeli aircraft carried out multiple strikes on a Hamas military site in northern Gaza.

Reports that largely cited Hamas sources inside the coastal enclave, however, said the commander of Iran's Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, is behind the current efforts to escalate hostilities in Israel's south.

In all likelihood, it was also Soleimani who gave the "green light" to the Palestinian sniper who shot the IDF officer, who miraculously was only lightly wounded after the bullet hit his helmet.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has orchestrated the provocations along the border in recent days and unlike Hamas, it is beholden first and foremost to its patrons in Iran. As a reminder, Soleimani's forces in Syria were dealt a resounding operational blow on Sunday by Israel, which destroyed numerous Iranian military targets in response to an Iranian missile fired at the Golan Heights.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also canceled a Qatari donation of $15 million for the impoverished enclave that had been due on Wednesday as part of international efforts to head off an escalation. The prime minister made the decision after consulting with senior defense officials and convening an emergency meeting of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said: "Israel is solely responsible for the latest escalation in Gaza. Israel continues to hurt our people and the brave resistance will not agree to a situation where Netanyahu uses elections for his personal interests and harms the Palestinian people in a premeditated manner."

Worried about a potential flare-up escalating into a full-on conflict, Egypt and the United Nations have sought to calm the situation in Gaza, while Qatar in November pledged $150 million in donations, to be transferred via Israel over six months, in the hope of easing economic pressure.

The Israeli official who announced the postponement did not say when the next $15 million payout might now take place. Netanyahu has previously stipulated that the cash injection was contingent upon calm along the Gaza border.

In a statement, the IDF said it "sees the Hamas terror organization as being solely responsible for what happens in and originates from Gaza. The IDF is prepared and willing to act against all acts of terror from Gaza and is determined to defend the citizens of the State of Israel."

'A disgrace to the residents of the south and the IDF'

Also on Tuesday, residents of southern Israel protested against the transfer of the Qatari funds to Hamas.

One protester, a member of Kibbutz Ruhama, said that transferring the third Qatari payout would be a slap in the face to the residents of the south and the IDF.

"When you see the deterrence in the north, it's hard to understand the weak policy in the south. The IDF is very capable of coping on all fronts, and here we have an evil organization whose might is equal to one one-hundredth of the might of the enemy in the north, so what's the problem with preventing Hamas terror?" he said. "Why surrender and give them $15 million when they use some of the money for terror in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria? It's absurd."

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The state alleges that Sara Netanyahu took more than 350,000 shekels ($98,000) of government money to pay for personal meals, falsely claiming that there was no state-funded cook at the residence.

She is suspected of colluding with the former deputy director general of the Prime Minister's Office, Ezra Saidoff, to create the false impression that there was no cook at the residence, allowing her to order meals from outside vendors.

Netanyahu's defense team met with Mendelblit at the beginning of May to discuss ways of keeping her from facing trial for alleged misuse of government funds. The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, which is handling the case, was also at the meeting.

The defense team has proposed that Netanyahu return a "significant sum," although still less than the amount the state is demanding, in exchange for the case against her being closed.

According to Channel 2, her defense team argued that the state has miscalculated the amount of money she allegedly owes.

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