The main characteristic that defines democracy is the sovereignty of the people. The will of the people is the source of the authority and legitimacy of the government. Citizens agree to a social contract, according to which they relinquish some of their rights and turn them over to their representatives in the legislature; the legislature empowers the executive authority to run the country to benefit the general public.

Every few years, citizens are called out for elections. Every citizen is free to choose his or her representatives, who are supposed to reflect their values, interests and beliefs. Representatives are obligated to promote and maintain the public's interests according to their election platform. The Knesset has the sovereignty to make these laws; the government must make decisions in accordance with the will of the majority that elected it. Laws are accepted by the majority. They reflect the public's desire; in other words, its sovereignty.

It is true that the majority cannot harm the basic rights of any citizen. The majority cannot trample on the rights of a minority. But Israel, in the name of false democracy, is foolish enough to allow a small minority to impose its opinion on the majority. There is nothing more anti-democratic than allowing a minority group to prevent the country's leadership from maintaining the policy for which it was elected.

In 1977, after the revolution led by Menachem Begin, on the backdrop of the Yom Kippur War and corruption in the Labor party at the time, the old elite was forced to give up the government. This Ashkenazi, old, secular, socialist elite gave way to the right wing parties from the periphery. The old elite has never quite accepted this revolution. To this day, they try to prevent the realization of the Right's right to rule.

A small elite group in the media, academia and finance, got used to ruling the country and setting its agenda. It is simply not ready to accept the democratic decision of the majority. While taking the name of democracy in vain, they try with all their might to prevent the Right's world view from manifesting itself. When they won elections, the public was intelligent and Knesset legislation was enlightened. Now, when they are the minority, the right is perceived as ignorant and needs to be saved from itself.

Israeli citizens, who managed to release themselves from the chains of the old Bolshevism, receive a series of educational lessons on how to shut their mouths. The new democrats are not ready to allow the Knesset and the government to fulfill their roles. When Knesset members try to prevent foreign governments from interfering with Israel, they are accused of damaging individual rights. But when Knesset members collaborate with our enemies, they are protected as a safeguard of democracy. When journalists publish classified material stolen from the army, they are heroes; when they are forced to take responsibility for their publications as libel, it is an insult to democracy.

Instead of the defenders of democracy teaching our elected officials about real democracy, perhaps they wish to enter the public battlefield and convince others of the truth of their ideology. The struggle is over public opinion, not the definition of democracy.

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