I'm sure I'm naive or just maybe not very bright . . .

But Prime Minister Netanyahu leads a coalition in the Knesset having a majority of 64 democratically members

This majority has democratically passed legislation that some people dislike

So if those unhappy people want to democratically elect their own majority in the next election, I'd call that democracy

What am I missing here?

Hi, Parents of Las Lomitas
You are missing a lot of complicated history. The short version is that people who are elected democratically can end up dismantling the system that allowed them to be elected and replacing it with something much worse. It has happened in many countries over the years and is always a tragedy.

Hello Nina,

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

I agree with your perspective that democracy is fragile and is never guaranteed to last.

My point, however, was that there is something not very democratic about trying to remove an elected government, or over-turning legislation passed by that elected governmant, by demonstrating (no matter how large) -- rather than by winning elections.

You are also quite right that there is a great deal of complicated history at play (antagonisms among socio-economic and other groups, refusal of miltary reservists to serve or pledging not to serve, the lack of a constitution, the self-defined "reasonableness" ground for the Israeli Supreme Court to nullify laws, and much more).

There are two sides to this very complicated history.