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Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Reunited: All 20 Living Israeli Hostages Return to Israel

To say it was an emotional day for the nation of Israel does not feel adequate. This was profound—and profoundly moving. Times of Israel: Parents make blessings, wrap themselves in Israeli flags; Omri Miran, whose daughter was a baby on October 7, gets to hear her say ‘Daddy,’ see older daughter, now 4. Freed Israeli hostages were reunited with their families amid tears, cries of joy and embraces on Monday at the military base in Re’im near the Gaza border, after two years of captivity by the Hamas terror group. The last 20 living hostages were all returned on Monday, following a partial withdrawal by the Israeli military in the Strip, and amid a ceasefire with the terror group ahead of planned talks on the enclave’s future. After being picked up by the Red Cross from Hamas and then handed off to the Israeli military, each hostage was brought to Re’im to meet their immediate family. From there, they were brought to hospitals, where they will begin the process of rehabilitation, and where they will be able to reunite with more family and friends. Guy Gilboa-Dalal’s family greeted him in Re’im wearing matching t-shirts that read: “Guy is home. The heart is whole again” (Times of Israel). Leah Barkoukis of Townhall looks at some of viral moments: the mood across Israel was jubilant—none more so than among the families who welcomed their loved ones back from Hamas captivity (Townhall).

Trump Heralds Golden Age of Middle East

The president spoke from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt—where he gathered with over 20 world leaders, hosted by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Fox News: President Donald Trump predicted peace in the Middle East and thanked leaders from across the region for their help in securing a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on Monday. Trump made the comments during a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, while flanked by the leaders of Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and other regional powers. The president called on the nations to “put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us.” “It took us 3,000 years to get to this point,” Trump said, saying the Gaza deal was only the first step toward wider peace (Fox News). Israelis are grateful, but remain cautious—particularly of Turkey and Qatar: Turkey and Qatar are not part of the solution; they are part of the problem. States that created the Gaza of October 6 cannot be entrusted with shaping the Gaza of October 8. For more than a decade, Qatar hosted Hamas’s political bureau in Doha. What began as ‘humanitarian mediation’ became a political and financial infrastructure: funds flowed, leadership flourished, the world looked away. Turkey, for its part, granted passports to Hamas operatives and turned Ankara into a refuge for a movement that calls for Israel’s destruction…. A country that teaches its children that the killer is the hero cannot supervise the disarmament of terror. The Israeli strike in Doha cracked Qatar’s immunity. It failed to kill Hamas’s leaders but shattered the illusion that Doha could host terror and still mediate (Israel Hayom).

As Schumer Shutdown Continues, Speaker Johnson Warns: ‘We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history’

The warning from Speaker Johnson came on the 13^th day of the shutdown. The Hill reports: “We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history, unless Democrats dropped their partisan demands and passed a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers,” Johnson said in a press conference on the 13th day of the government shutdown. Congressional leaders have been locked in a standoff over government funding as Democrats demand that Republicans make concessions on health care, notably Affordable Care Act tax credits that are expiring at the end of the year. Republican leaders have refused to negotiate on health care during a shutdown, arguing that that Democrats must accept the “clean” funding stopgap the House passed in September — and which has failed to advance in the Senate seven times. The shutdown, 13 days and counting, already marks one of the longest federal government funding lapses in modern history (The Hill).

Zelensky to Visit DC on Friday as Trump Turns to Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Can the president leverage his success in the Middle East to solve Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine? Wall Street Journal: If Trump can draw any lesson from the Israel-Hamas deal to apply to the Ukraine war, senior European officials said, it boils down to one word: Pressure…. Trump hasn’t yet brought the same pressure to bear on Putin. Ukraine and its allies in Europe are hoping that will change now that Trump has seen the fruits of his success as a dealmaker in the Middle East—and as his impatience with Russia mounts, following months of failed negotiations (Wall Street Journal). Financial Times: US President Donald Trump will welcome his Ukrainian counterpart to Washington on Friday for talks about how they can force Russia’s Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, including through the possibility of supplying American-made Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv. The meeting will be Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s third with the US president at the White House since Trump returned to office in January. Trump and Zelenskyy held phone calls over the weekend, during which they discussed the possibility of Nato allies buying Tomahawk missiles for Kyiv — a long-range weapon that would extend Ukraine’s strike capability as far as Moscow and beyond — and how to bring an end to Russia’s full-scale war (Financial Times).

Planning for World Cup: Trump Administration Investing $500 Million in Anti-Drone Security

The vulnerability from drones has been made all too clear in the Russia-Ukraine war. We are vulnerable here as well. Politico: The Trump administration is moving to fortify U.S. skies against potential drone threats ahead of next summer’s World Cup and other marquee mega-events, casting the technology as necessary both to bolster security and to help outpace foreign competition for aviation technology. The administration plans to launch a $500 million effort to support state and local governments as they develop anti-drone security strategies ahead of the soccer tournament being played across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, along with the United States’ 250th anniversary and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, according to Andrew Giuliani, director of the White House’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force…. “Drones are a disruptive technology. They have an amazing potential for both good and ill,” Seb Gorka, the National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, has said. “We will increase the enforcement of current laws to deter two types of individuals: evildoers and idiots — the clueless and the careless” (Politico).

Wife of New York Mayoral Nominee Mamdani Mourns Death of Hamas Influencer

Zohran Mamdani’s wife left no question on where sentiments lie: New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani’s wife publicly mourned the death of a Palestinian influencer who openly glorified the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. Rama Duwaji, an animator who tied the knot with the socialist in a February civil ceremony, posted four broken-heart emojis on Instagram Sunday to grieve Palestinian influencer Saleh al-Jafarawi. “Beloved Jafarawi,” she wrote on her Instagram story. Jafarawi, who documented the war in Gaza, was confirmed killed Sunday in clashes between Hamas and other Palestinian factions, according to reports (New York Post). Mike Miller of RedState: With the handsome couple — Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji — all but a shoo-in to become the next inhabitants of Gracie Mansion, New Yorkers will be subject to the radical policies that the Mamdanis embody: policies that have already eroded public safety, undermined economic growth, and prioritized fringe activism over everyday citizens’ needs (RedState). All that is true, but in light of what we’ve learned about Mamdani’s affinity for Islamism, New Yorkers ought to be asking themselves if they want someone like this representing them as New Yorkers—and the nation—mark the 25^th anniversary of 9/11, just 11 months away.

Trump Succeeds Where Others Have Failed

And have failed for decades. How has he pulled it off? Trump pressured all the key players in the region—Turkey, Qatar and, of course, he delivered a special message to Iran. Ed Morrissey: Donald Trump left them no choice, having cut off every other diplomatic and military option (Hot Air). Hamas had just rejected a deal that included release of hostages in the first phase, then… Wall Street Journal reports: two days later, Hamas came back to Arab mediators with a yes. The deal hadn’t changed. The pressure on Hamas had. Egypt and Qatar told Hayya the deal was his last chance to end the war, according to the officials. They pressed Hamas to understand that holding the hostages was becoming a strategic liability, giving Israel a source of legitimacy to keep fighting. The next day, joined by Turkey, they warned him that if Hamas didn’t approve the plan it would be stripped of all political and diplomatic cover; Qatar and Turkey would no longer host the group’s political leadership, and Egypt would stop pressing for Hamas to have a say in Gaza’s postwar governance, the officials said. It was enough to get Hamas to agree to release all its hostages in Gaza and sign on to the first part of Trump’s peace deal, giving up what had been its most important bargaining chip to keep a seat at the table…. “Hamas themselves have been under a lot of pressure from regional mediators,” said Tahani Mustafa, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Hamas also knows that they’re not probably going to politically survive this if things continue down this route, especially given that their popularity is declining” (Wall Street Journal).

Antony Blinken Tries to Take Credit for Trump Middle East Deal

The Secretary of State under Biden claimed: It’s good that President Trump adopted and built on the plan the Biden Administration developed after months of discussion with Arab partners, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (Blinken). JNS reports: “This is delusional,” stated Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Once again, President Trump is cleaning up an epic mess left by Biden, Blinken,” former U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan and former White House adviser Brett McGurk, stated Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation. “They have the temerity to seek recognition for the chaos they manufactured to a fawning media that applauded it,” Greenway said. “Alice, and her friends in Wonderland, would be aghast. The Cheshire Cat would be proud” (JNS). Ed Morrissey gets straight to the point: Blinken and Biden’s plan suffered from one fatal flaw: they wanted Hamas to win and to force Israel into capitulation. Their entire foreign policy in the region consisted of appeasing Iran and forcing the Israelis to accept a two-state solution that left Iran’s puppet in charge of Gaza — and eventually the West Bank, too (Hot Air).

Indonesian President to Visit Israel Amidst Speculation of Expansion of Abraham Accords

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was bold in defense of Israel as European and Arab leaders pressed for recognition of a Palestinian state before the U.N. Now: Subianto’s visit to Israel has people wondering: Indonesia, home to some 283 million people, has long maintained that it would not establish ties with Israel until an independent Palestinian state is created, though in recent years it has quietly increased unofficial contacts with Jerusalem. As part of preparations for the visit, Netanyahu earlier this week asked the court to postpone his testimony due to the state visit of Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and “another diplomatic visit” he did not specify. The court denied the request, but it has now emerged that the undisclosed visit referred to was that of the Indonesian president (Israel Hayom).

10.

A Closer Look at Gen Z and Christian Faith

The assassination of Charlie Kirk and the turnout of college youth at Turning Point events in the wake of his death has got people talking: What is happening? Gen Z is clearly disillusioned with “woke faith” and are looking for something more. Daniel Williams of Ashland University: About a third of Gen Z-ers are nonreligious. Thirty-eight percent never go to church — a mark of the rise of the Nones, or Americans with no religious affiliation. But predictions that the Christian right would be moribund with Gen Z-ers have proved false. In the aftermath of Covid — and amid the longing for purpose, community and transcendence that many Gen Z-ers feel — a sizable minority of them have found their answer in conservative Christianity, fueling both a religious and a political revival among these young Americans. They bring a new attitude to the combination of faith and politics, and many see politics as a matter of spiritual warfare. Gen Z is clouded by despair. It’s not hard to imagine how young people traumatized by the isolation imposed by Covid and disillusioned by the perceived emptiness of secular liberalism might be drawn to a relationship with God and a purpose in life. Many were attracted by Mr. Kirk’s message of confidence and joyfulness in his conservative Christian faith. Some believe that they are in a spiritual war against “enemies” and that they can expect to be persecuted for their convictions from a hostile secular state or society (New York Times).

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