YYA> These are bochurim who were legally exempt, and the Supreme Court-AG decided to change the law, without democratic process, specifically in order to make them �criminals�.
a modern democratic country does not mean that all decisions are made by direct vote. Power is dispersed, with various indirectly elected institutions holding some of the power. Romans understood that. They had various elected positions – dictators (a lot of power, but for one year only), senate, tribunes (representatives of lower classes). Even when Rome had emperors and modern historians start calling Rome “an empire”, contemporary roman historians, such as Tacitus, still call it “republic” with emperor being a part of the system. In their view, as long as there is Senate, it is a republic … Gemorah understands it the same way – when Antoninus asks R Yehudah that he can ask one favor from the Senate – to make his son emperor after him or to rescind taxes on Jews, a clear description of limited powers of the emperor.
Some of the aspects of Israeli system are indeed concerning that they are captured by certain groups and might benefit from improvements. Such changes to the system (where the system is defined explicitly in US via constitution and often implicitly in Israel and other countries) usually require not just a 51% majority but a larger consensus in the country. So, if you can modify your position to make it palatable to super-majority of Israelis – or wait until your grandchildren outnumber the rest, you’ll change the system.