Credit where credit is due. In the midst of yet another crisis, as Israel’s political system rapidly sleepwalks toward a fourth general election in less than two years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with enormous help from the White House, has pulled the rabbit of normalization with the UAE out of the hat. All things considered, for a prime minister under siege at home, this was a real coup, as it was for President Donald Trump. But it is doubtful whether, at this moment in Israel’s history, such a diplomatic achievement can be Netanyahu’s savior in the context of his desperate attempts to save his political career and, even more importantly, somehow avoid or indefinitely postpone his corruption trial. Evidently, he has artificially instigated points of friction and protracted crises with his coalition partners, especially Blue and White, with two aims in mind: To prolong indefinitely his time in power, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan-style, and use it to disrupt and delay his court case. Netanyahu has never been a politician who trusted anyone or anything but, for a long while, this has worked for him and repeatedly propelled him to the position of prime minister. Unlike many of his contemporaries in Israeli politics, he has always been ready for a battle and setbacks have never deterred him. His loyalty to no one but himself and his lack of any coherent ideology have become his trademark. While these traits have played a major role in keeping him in power, they have also resulted in constant vacillations over policy and made him enemies in all quarters of Israeli society and politics, including many who used to be his allies. When anyone close to Netanyahu gained what was deemed by him and other family members to be an independent powerbase, they were banished from the inner circle and singled out as enemies. If, in his earlier days, his fear of political rivals was mainly tactical to serve his boundless political ambitions, later, with the influence of his dysfunctional household, it has developed into deep-seated paranoia, which drives him to identify sometimes real, but often imaginary, threats in order to justify his irrational behavior. After years of investigations into alleged corruption, the fact he has finally been indicted has convinced Netanyahu that both his political survival and his chances of avoiding conviction depend on rallying his support base through constantly sowing division, launching vicious attacks on his opponents, and generally causing systemic disruption to take the country to the edge of chaos. The current coalition crisis derives from this state of mind. For a coalition government that is barely four months old, the constant squabbling between its main partners, which has been going on almost from day one, is unprecedented. Adding to the prime minister’s customary political anxieties and legal predicament is his disastrous failure to deal with the second wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has led to more people taking to the streets in protest, and his inability to form a coalition that will support his policies. That’s where he and his Likud party feel most threatened, and this perfect storm of a pandemic that has brought so many deaths and losses of livelihood, together with the cloud of corruption hanging above him, leaves his premiership more vulnerable than ever. Worse, Benny Gantz, his main coalition partner and officially an alternating prime minister, doesn’t trust Netanyahu at all and, deep down, knows the chances of the incumbent stepping aside for him next year — as the coalition agreement dictates — are very slim. Meanwhile, Netanyahu doesn’t miss an opportunity to treat Gantz as a junior partner and humiliate him in public and in Cabinet meetings. But the act of political suicide committed by Gantz and his colleagues when they joined the coalition and, in so doing, split their party, leaves what is left of the Blue and White with very little room to maneuver. They are vulnerable to the threat of fresh elections, in which they can expect to crash. Netanyahu is exploiting this weakness effectively. Last week’s cancellation of a Cabinet meeting is a case in point. It was aimed to manufacture a crisis with Blue and White by putting the budget legislation in severe jeopardy and, with that, make the Knesset’s dissolution later this month a real possibility. The PM blamed Blue and White’s alleged refusal to discuss a financial stimulus for the economy in the wake of the damage caused by COVID-19. This was supposed to paint Blue and White as indifferent to the suffering of the millions of Israelis hit by the pandemic, while presenting Netanyahu as their champion. In reality, it was Likud and their leader who created this storm in a teacup by continuously violating the coalition agreement and refusing to discuss any working arrangements in Cabinet that do not simply marginalize the Blue and White and its representatives. Netanyahu doesn’t miss an opportunity to treat Gantz as a junior partner and humiliate him. Yossi Mekelberg For instance, despite explicitly signing an agreement on a two-year budget, Netanyahu is now insisting on a one-year budget, which is easier to manipulate for coalition purposes. However, what genuinely bothers Netanyahu to the point that he is ready to break up a partnership in government that was only formed in May is his unwillingness to relinquish control over the appointment of the next police chief and attorney general. Between them, these appointees will have the power to decide on the possibility of further corruption investigations, including a potential probe into his handling of a purchase of submarines from Germany, which enriched a number of people close to him. Blue and White joined the coalition on condition that these crucial appointments be made in a transparent manner. It is aware that, by protecting the independence of the police and the justice system from Netanyahu and his subordinates, it is protecting Israel’s democracy (and also some of its fast-dwindling reputation). This battle is between Netanyahu, who is ready to destroy any acceptable standard of behavior in public office in order to escape justice, and those who are taking a firm stand to prevent the country from being completely wrecked by a cynical and power-hungry prime minister and his stooges. Netanyahu has shown complete disregard for his country’s democratic institutions and processes. Should he win this battle, there is a grave risk of irreparable damage being done to what is left of Israel’s good governance and democracy. Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view