Nope. Israel is one of the most secular countries around with more than 40% of the population defined as secular.
To put that into perspective, imagine a Christian country with 40% of non-believers and 60% of monks (with the monks consistently reporting high levels of happiness). That would strongly remind of Israel. (To be clear, both Jewish and Muslim population is included in the latter.)
Majority is secular. Of the religious people the majority are relatively tame. There are some extremist religious people e.g. Hasidim but they are a cult of their own (think Amish). They probably wouldn't even take part in a survey.
The reason for happiness is multi-fold:
* It's a 3 year average. Notice that Israel is actually slipping due to last year.
* Economy was generally good until last October
* Army service tends to unify the community
* It's a small country which tends to bring people together through collective fate
I'm not saying that the religious people aren't happier than the median. But I am saying that based on statistics Israel is relatively secular. More so than most western countries.
Regardless, this is a self reporting study which is the only way to report happiness. Over the past 3 years prior to October Israel had years of peace which are far more appreciated in a country that has known quite a lot of conflict. I think westerners don't appreciate this as much as we do.
As the people return from the army feeling they have done something significant to protect their country, and with the public discourse drifting away from the regular "Bibi vs. not Bibi" agenda, I fully expect Israel to report even higher levels of happiness next year.
80% are pretty much interested in Bibi taking a hike by now. The only people who still want him have a deep agenda and never liked him to begin with. He's outlived his usefulness even for them.
As a non religious person I love Yom Kippur. It's super fun. We all go out with bikes and have a blast. We respect the religious people and don't drive (also it's dangerous with all the kids out on bikes). It doesn't mean we're religious.
I accept that most feel they have a Jewish identity. But that isn't religion, it's tradition.