Whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was floating a trial balloon or really meant to hold primaries for the leadership of his Likud party, the scenario of a third round of Israeli elections appears inevitable. Netanyahu refuses to concede that he is unable to form a government and will not allow any other Likud lawmaker to try his hand, as the law allows. The reason is clear: On Oct. 2, the attorney general started hearing Netanyahu’s legal team arguing against his indictment on three corruption charges; if he has any chance of avoiding criminal prosecution, he must hold tight to his seat. As prime minister, he could push forward legislation that would offer him immunity.

On Oct. 3, word was leaked to reporters that the Likud central committee would convene next week to approve snap primaries for the party’s leadership and prime ministerial candidate. Shortly after, Netanyahu’s main party rival, Gideon Saar, tweeted, “I’m ready” — meaning prepared to challenge Netanyahu, who is under a cloud of suspicion. Hours later, senior Likud members claimed it was all an evasive tactic designed to expose Saar’s true face as a subversive.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu continues to tighten his hold over the right-wing bloc of parties that have committed their full support for him to form the country’s next government. By locking in the support of the 55 elected lawmakers of the Likud, the right-wing Yamina alliance and the ultra-Orthodox Shas and Yahadut HaTorah parties, Netanyahu seeks to prevent his rival, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, from obtaining sufficient Knesset support to form the next government. With this tactic, Netanyahu is essentially leading his bloc and the citizens of Israel to a third election within less than a year.

How another election would serve Israelis and break the political deadlock is unclear. However, Netanyahu’s conduct since learning the results of the September elections makes it abundantly clear that with his bag of survival tricks, Israel’s political magician has managed to weaken and perhaps even dismantle his own conservative camp. This camp paved Netanyahu’s way to the prime minister’s office through successive elections since 2009, but he had no qualms about poaching his partners’ voters in the latest election campaign and imposing on them various partnerships only to subsequently dismantle and crush them.