WATCH: War or shame? Biden's approach to Israel-Hamas conflict

IDF Sgt. Major Chaim Malespin, who serves in the army's elite Yahalom unit, discusses U.S. President Joe Biden's approach to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Drawing parallels to historical quotes and contemporary political realities, he analyzes the dilemma facing the Biden administration: Choosing between war and shame.

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

There is a famous quote attributed to Winston Churchill: 'The gov­ern­ment had to choose between war and shame. They chose shame. They will get war as well.'

I think about it in the context of the Biden administration right now.

Is Biden trying to prevent Israel from completing the job and destroying Hamas? I believe it is a choice between war and shame because allowing a genocidal force like Hamas to remain in power is shameful.

Not to mention the information gradually coming out about Iranian involvement and even potential Russian involvement in the massacre… So Israel supposed to stand against all those powers by itself? Of so, this is really shameful.

There is another element of the ‘choosing shame over war and getting war’ principle that we see happening right now.

We know that Biden is really scared of losing the pro-Palestinian vote in the Democratic party. There’s even a joke going around that Biden is working on the two-state solution - Michigan and Nevada. Biden knows he will need to win those states to have any chance against Trump in the general election taking place less than a year from now. 

So in the choice between standing strong with Israel, and saying bravely that an operation in Rafah to overthrow Hamas is what’s righteous and needed or to choose shame. You could choose a short and narrow political calculation, over historic justice - the kind of justice he seemed to be on board with here when he brought all these destroyers here. He said: 'You guys need to finish this. I'm a Zionist.'

I'd like to propose a scenario. Just imagine, if President Biden would declare: ‘I know that the war against Hamas is hurting my campaign, but this is the right thing to do at the moment.’

If he would have done that… I would not be surprised if a movement of conservatives, even Evangelicals, the kinds that would not want to vote for Trump, might say ‘You know what, I commend Biden for this. I think he's being honest. I'm going to vote for him because he's standing up for what is right.

But if he just chooses shame, as a result, he will likely get political war from both the pro-Palestinian side in his party, who are still unhappy about his choices, and many Democrats who stand with Israel and are devastated by Biden’s treatment of Israel.

Let’s pray for a turnaround for the U.S., and also pray for us as individuals and as a people of faith everywhere in the world. Whenever we are faced with the options of shame and capitulation instead of war... You have to take a stand and say, 'If I perish, I perish, but I'm going to stand up for what is right.'

May God empower us to choose what’s right… and not to choose shame. We are called to be warriors! We are called to stand up for what is right and continue to defend the defenseless. They've been through enough on the northern border and the southern border of Israel.

We've got to complete the job right now.

IDF Sgt. Major Chaim Malespin has been serving on the front lines of the fight in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7. He is also the director of the Aliyah Return Center in Israel, a non-profit organization that helps Jews immigrate to Israel.