WATCH: Is Netanyahu a war criminal?

Read this article in:

IDF Sergeant Major Chaim Malespin as he addresses one of the most important questions in recent weeks. Is Netanyahu a war criminal?

Join the discussion by watching the video above or reading the transcript below.

Listen to the jets overhead. I'm Chaim Malespin, sergeant major, combat engineer corps elite unit for Special Missions. I'm right near Rafah, right near the Egyptian border, southern Israel.

I want to ask you a question: Bear with me. Is [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu a war criminal? The leader of the one democracy in the Middle East? Is he a war criminal?

My answer might surprise you a little bit, but okay – if you ask one of these crazy ... protesters that are tearing up the world, not only in America – different countries and universities, the brightest minds – they’d say, “Yes, he is a war criminal.” And they'd say...what about the ICC, the International Criminal Court, coming after him, saying potentially they might...do an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and other leaders of Israel. My commander in chief, you know.

So, let's dive in.

What should have happened? Okay, so October 7th happened, and you have 1,200 citizens killed, about 200 taken into the depths of darkness of despair as hostages. These massacring zombie-apocalypse, Nazi extremists, you know, came raping women...killing... beheading babies. And so, Israel should have just done, what? Said, “Oh, well, you know, no harm done. No harm done.”

Okay, we could have said, “Yes, we know that Gaza is run by Hamas and Hamas is the leaders. And they're all – with the civilians – helping to hide the hostages, celebrating the deaths of Israelis. But we should just say, “No harm done. All good, all good.”

You know, that would have made Netanyahu a war criminal, wouldn't that? If [he]...in the one democracy in the Middle East, we don't defend our citizens, that's criminal. Okay? The same thing with Hezbollah in the north. Hezbollah. Hey, we have to evacuate. We evacuated cities, okay?...in the north, Kiryat Shmona... and Hezbollah is just bombing...bombarding.

And if we say, “Okay,” that makes him a criminal, it makes him a bad leader, a bad shepherd...I keep using that. And Hezbollah and others would say, “Nice gesture. Israel has done nothing.”

It's almost like a teaching moment. What it does is, they smell the blood in the water. And wicked people. They are wicked...there are wolves out there borrowing this shepherd analogy. There's wolves out there. The wolves smell the blood. They just say, “Hey, there's no shepherd. Let's just go and continue.” And then you have terror around the world, global instability and terror everywhere.

If Israel did nothing after October 7th, Israel would have experienced a far greater genocide, far worse than October 7th. That isn't the full plan! They got stopped by heroes in uniform like, you know, that's how... they got stopped. Not because they decided to stop. A shepherd has to put an end to the attacks. Netanyahu would be held responsible for the genocide of Jewish people all over the world.

Now, there's some who respond this way and they say, “Well, yes, okay. Israel should have attacked it and gone to rescue the hostages... Yes, but do only a proportionate response. I keep hearing that, right?

...Do you mean exactly doing what they did to us? Like exactly 1,200 people – kill only that many, and not the terrorists. Don't dismantle terror? Don't dismantle...the Hamas infrastructure? Don't blow up the tunnels? Don't rescue the hostages? Just say “We just want to take 200 or so hostages...250 or so hostages, and that's all.” So, a proportionate – like, doing the exact thing?

No, that's not...our goal. As free people, we are here to end Hamas and to protect our borders.

So is Netanyahu a war criminal? No.

Why? Because he chose to do the right thing as any leader of any free country – every democracy in the world – would do the same thing and launch a defense to defend Israel. It's right to protect the innocent. It's a noble thing to defend your country.

That's what I'm doing. I'm not a ‘genocide’ person either. I'm here to follow one of the most moral leaders – and decent leaders – in the modern society. And thank you guys for standing up for what's right.