Malespin describes himself as an Israeli Jewish Zionist, which he says means a patriot. He lives in northern Israel, is married with three children, and runs two charities alongside an advocacy charity. When he is not on duty, he says, he helps immigrants and needy people of every background.

He also serves as a sergeant major in the army. His name, he notes, means “life.”

He says that at around 30, working as a carpenter, he asked whether he wanted to earn money or do something more meaningful. He chose to move to the Galilee and test whether he could help immigrants, buying a guest house on faith and offering free stays. He says donors and volunteers responded, and the work grew.

“Every day is a step of faith,” he says. “If people stop donating, the whole thing will stop.”

He says it helps to ask whether a listener wants to know the truth at all, and argues that many people follow popular narratives, such as seeing the conflict purely as oppressor versus oppressed. He says Jews are indigenous to the land, that Arab citizens of Israel have full rights, vote and serve in public life, and that Israel targets military targets while warning civilians. He rejects accusations of genocide and apartheid.

He says he separates Israeli Arab citizens from the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and describes a Muslim Bedouin friend who he says saved Jewish lives during the October 7 attacks, as an example of what he wants emphasized.

He points to Isaiah 19, which he reads as a promise of peace among Egypt, Assyria and Israel. He hopes for an expansion of the Abraham Accords, including to Israel’s closest neighbors, and for a region focused on technology, agriculture and desert greening rather than survival.

He also describes Christian Zionism as biblical support for Jewish people and their historic ties to Israel, not hatred of Arabs or Palestinians, and says Arabs and Jews pray together at gatherings in the Galilee.