Democracy’s Immune System Is Working (in Israel & the World)

Democracy is under attack in Israel, the US, and several other countries around the world. Indeed, in 2018 no less than two Harvard political science professors published a best-selling book: “How Democracies Die,” warning of democracy’s slow slide to autocracy around the world (https://www.amazon.com/How-Democracies-Die-Steven-Levitsky/dp/1524762938).

Yet, much like what happens in the human anatomy during and after a serious illness, democracies utilize their built-in immune system to attack and strengthen the body politic. Thus, while researchers and the media focus attention on the attackers and national examples of weakened democracy, less attention is paid to successful counterattacks.

Before turning to Israel and the US, here’s a quick round-the-world rundown. In the Philippines, former President Duterte is on trial for mass murder of innocent civilians during his indiscriminate anti-drug cartel campaign in which thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of people were murdered by state security forces, in their dragnet of any and all people even possibly connected to the drug trade.

South Korea’s democratic pushback was even faster. In late December 2024 the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached by the National Assembly in response to Yoon’s declaration of martial law at the start of that month. In April 2025 the country’s Supreme Court upheld the impeachment, and he is now being criminally investigated as well.

On the other side of the world in Brazil (South America’s largest democracy), former President Bolsonaro is also on trial. Along with several dozen people he’s been indicted in an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2022 election that he lost by a 51%-49% margin. Investigators found that he had plotted to assassinate not only the election winner (Lula), but also the latter’s VP running mate and a Supreme Court justice! That would have enabled Bolsonaro to declare a “state of siege,” suspend the other branches of government, and remain in power as a caretaker president.

If that sounds familiar, then perhaps Bolsonaro was trying to take Trump’s January 6, 2001 mob attack on Congress one step further (adding assassination). But here too, although ultimately Trump was not brought to trial (reelected president halted the judicial process), the US Senate – and then the slow wheels of justice – earlier halted his unconstitutional attempt at undermining the democratic process.

Which brings us to Israel and its Supreme Court that came very close to (“temporarily”) removing Netanyahu as prime minister for the duration of his triple trial. They didn’t do so in part because of a lacuna in the law: government ministers cannot serve as long as they are under indictment and trial, but the Knesset didn’t add “prime minister” to that law (one MK suggested they do so; Tommy Lapid the Justice Minister back then nixed that, arguing that it was “inconceivable” for such a thing to happen. Ironically, his son Yair Lapid is now Leader of the Opposition!) However, the ongoing recent Qatar-gate investigation might yet lead the Court to rule Bibi ineligible to continue in office – assuming that he is found personally culpable in the scandal.

And then, of course, there’s the bulwark called “the public”: demos kratos in the Athenian Greek original (“people power”). The Israeli government’s attempt at a “Judicial Revolution” (or “Judicial Reform” if you’re sympathetic to that effort) was stymied by massive protests pre-Oct. 7, 2023. This governmental policy took a page or two out of the Hungarian experience in which Victor Orban has slowly undermined and eviscerated the main pillars of Hungarian democracy: the media, the judiciary, and finally the legislature.

In short, the assault on democratic institutions continues apace. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the present Trump presidency: removing government subsidies from academia, gutting the federal bureaucracy, verbally attacking the judiciary, threatening to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve Board, and even claiming presidential authority to do whatever he sees fit without restriction.

Yet here too the “system” is pushing back: federal judges are halting several policies that don’t have proper authorization or logic (e.g., unfettered deportation of illegal immigrants); state district attorneys suing the federal government for its over-reach; local town meetings where Republican voters are upbraiding their elected representatives for going along with every Trumpian move.

The latter is particularly instructive – for better and for worse. On the one hand, in Israel and in the U.S., public opinion polls show a clear, sharp decline in support for Bibi’s and Trump’s policies; indeed, a significant majority are against what their government is doing. On the other hand, however, the government has a temporary bulletproof vest called “until the next elections.” This is particularly evident in Israel: the polls have shown for many months that the governing parties will find themselves in the opposition when elections are held (November 2026 at the latest). Thus, they have no incentive to undermine Bibi’s government of which they are a part.

The result: elections are the foundation of democracy but also its Achilles Heel. If and when radical circumstantial change occurs (e.g., Gaza War; Trumpian economic disaster), elections can’t be easily moved up (parliamentary system) if at all (presidential system).

The conclusion? As we see throughout the world, the other pillars of democracy supported by the populace have to step forward to ensure their democracy’s survival. As opposed to the depressing impression we might have from focusing only on the attackers, democracy’s immune systems are still alive and kicking in Israel, America, and many other countries around the world.