Standing Up For Democracy

Photo by Gili Yaari/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The news out of Israel remains fraught — a nation teetering, questioning, convulsing, and debating. Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the street (in a country with a population of just over 9 million, roughly that of New Jersey). Businesses and schools have closed. Commerce and transportation have been shut down. 

The world is paying notice, and it should.

The future direction of a close ally of the United States and a nation of global strategic importance is very much uncertain. But more generally, this is being framed by the protesters as a clash between democracy and creeping authoritarianism. In that way, Israel is symbolic of what we are seeing in many places around the world, including here in America. What lessons can we learn?

The crisis in Israel came to a boil when the coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to overhaul the judiciary in ways that opponents fear would undermine the courts’ independence and threaten the very notion of Israeli democracy. 

Behind this flashpoint is a complicated confluence of destabilizing factors, many of which are unique to Israeli politics and its current leader. Israel’s slew of political parties, which align between the right and the left in roughly equal strength, has long made forming a government with any mandate difficult. So ramming through a threat to the separation of powers was bound to be controversial. 

In addition to the general split between conservatives and liberals, there are many fault lines particular to the Jewish state, especially around religion. For example, those between secular Jews (who make up most of the protesters) and religious Jews (who are largely part of Netanyahu’s coalition). Then there is the matter of Netanyahu himself and the fact that he is facing corruption charges. So threatening an independent judiciary can be seen as self-serving. 

But the overall narrative is one that those outside Israel can and should grasp. It is about those with a narrow majority at a specific moment trying to wrest additional power in order to maintain control, even or especially at the risk of democratic values and societal stability. 

It is also a story of what can be done once this happens. 

The outpouring of protests and their depth and breadth surprised Netanyahu, putting him on the defensive. Crowds pouring into the street, a general strike, as well as vocal criticism from the business community, parts of the military, and even members of his own government have shaped this crisis in ways that Netanyahu did not expect. When Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the drastic judicial changes should be paused, Netanyahu sacked him. This move only made the protesters more determined. 

Now the prime minister, looking for an out, has decided that the judicial measures will be paused. It was a victory for the protesters, but the uncertainty of what comes next remains. And in addition to this immediate crisis are broader questions around Israeli democracy and the treatment of Palestinians in territories it occupies, which have both divided Israelis and caused strains with American Jews and other supporters of Israel.

Nevertheless, this moment comes amidst what has been lamented by many as a broad decline in democracy around the globe in recent years. We have seen claims that we are entering a new phase of world history in which authoritarian regimes like those in Russia and China exert more power through military might and coaxing out new alliances with countries outside North America and Europe. We have seen ostensibly democratic countries ranging from Hungary to Turkey to India embrace more autocratic leaders. 

In the United States, the threats posed to our democracy are dire and apparent. And they are being led by the former president, who is attacking the legal system as he faces possible indictments on a range of issues (including fomenting a violent insurrection to keep himself in power). He is now running for reelection. Even many who oppose him in the Republican Party embrace anti-democratic stances. It’s perhaps not surprising in a party that has lost the popular vote in every presidential election but one since 1988. 

All who care about democracy should take these chilling trends seriously. But that doesn’t mean this is the only narrative. As the throngs in the streets of Israel prove, resistance is not futile. And it can be contagious. The sea of Israeli flags among the protesters shows that they see this as a fight for their country, an act of patriotism in resistance. Too often those on the political right claim a deep love of country as theirs alone, that the opposition is un-Israeli, un-American, or un-wherever we’re talking about. That of course is nonsense, but it makes for a powerful narrative if left unchecked. 

The dangers posed by those looking to usher in a less tolerant, less peaceful, less democratic era are real. And they can win in ways big and small. But their victory is not assured. 

Perhaps the most extreme example of this has come in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have surprised Vladimir Putin and the world with the courageous defense of their nation’s sovereignty. In turn, as the United States and Western Europe have rushed to Ukraine’s defense, the war has strengthened America’s alliance with European democracies and enhanced NATO resistance. This is exactly the opposite effect for which Putin had hoped. 

We should be careful making direct comparisons between that horrifically bloody war and what is happening in Israel or the United States. But we can’t help but wonder whether Ukraine is helping fuel a general sense that oppression can and must be repulsed, that people have to stand up for democracy, and that waves of outrage can be met with waves of resistance.

Hopefully Israel does not descend into violence. And hopefully we don’t see a repeat of what happened at the Capitol on January 6. The very idea of democracy and representative government is that we can resolve our differences peacefully, that the will of the majority is respected and the rights of the minority are protected. 

The exercise of democracy is never perfect, and its workings sometimes can be ugly. It must be constantly balanced and fine-tuned. Those who serve us should be held to account. But despite all its drawbacks, democracy has proven to be the best form of government humans have yet to create. 

And that is worth fighting for.

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