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Bar Kuperstein

23-year-old Bar Kuperstein being reunited with his family after being held hostage for two years by Hamas. Screenshot from Israeli Military video, Oct. 13, 2025

Huckabee sees Mid-East ‘reset’

October 13, 2025 By Eric Reed

Ambassador Mike Huckabee | Screenshot: Fox Business

Ambassador Mike Huckabee | Screenshot: Fox Business

Gaza | As tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians from Gaza formed a human train returning to their war-ravaged home, President Trump declared a new beginning in terms that sounded almost biblical, and a former Baptist pastor now diplomat predicted a ‘reset’ not only for Israel, but the whole Middle East.

“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” Trump told the Israeli Knesset Oct. 13. “Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change.”

Mike Huckabee agreed. Days before as Israel and Hamas agreed to the settlement to end hostilities and return 20 living Israeli hostages, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel credited Trump as “the strong horse” who demanded and got the agreement because, “in the Middle East, it’s the strong horse that wins.”

Tal Kuperstein (center) with Bar Kuperstein (left)

Five years ago, Tal Kuperstein (center) was left paralyzed  following a stroke but vowed he would walk again for his son, Bar. Tal kept that vow, rising from his wheelchair embracing 23-year-old Bar, after his release from 737 days as a hostage of Hamas. | Screenshot: Israeli Military video, Oct. 13, 2025

Now, he says, a complete reset in the region appears likely. “Look for the Abraham Accords to expand exponentially,” the former pastor said. “You could see Syria and Lebanon be some of the first partners in the next wave of Abraham Accords. These are things that if you’d have said this five years ago, ten years ago, people would have laughed in your face.” But now, Huckabee told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, “we have a chance for an unprecedented level of realignment and genuine long-lasting peace in the Middle East.”

Israel does not want Gaza, he said, a strip of land the size of Las Vegas, because they want the security of a buffer zone. And the terrorist group Hamas will have to find a new base after the failure of their two-year war against Israel launched October 7, 2023 with an unforgettable attack on a music festival.

Segev Kalfon

Family members of Segev Kalfon (center) surround him after his two years of being a Hamas hostage finally come to an end. | Screenshot: Israeli Military video, Oct. 13, 2025

While Iran and Muslim splinter groups operating there remain a concern, “it may not be in their best interest to rise up,” Huckabee said, citing under Trump’s leadership “a unity in the Arab League that we’ve not seen. I think patience has just simply worn out with these people that want to constantly bring division, war, bloodshed, and mayhem to a place that ought to, for the first time in hundreds, if not thousands of years… advance toward both peace and a prosperity for the people,” he said.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to see it happen in the rest of the Middle East and ultimately the world?”

In the meantime, prayer continues from the Wailing Wall to Washington that the peace will hold.

–with quotes from USA Today and Fox Business

Related

‘Tainted joy’ upon hostage/prisoner exchange, leading Israeli care group says

Remaining Israeli hostages released following ceasefire

After hostages and prisoners freed, complex issues remain

Trump urges leaders to put ‘old feuds’ aside as he calls for a new era of harmony in the Middle East

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