Afghanistan’s last known Jew has “had enough” and plans to leave the country this autumn.
Zabulon Simantov, a carpet and jewelry merchant, lives on the same Kabul compound as Afghanistan’s only synagogue.
His decision to move to Israel after the High Holy Days this autumn came, he told Arab News, as a result of losing hope for peace in the country. Mr Simantov’s wife and daughters live in Israel.
He said: “I will watch on TV to find out what will happen in Afghanistan.
“I have had enough and plan to leave in the next few months.
“I managed to protect the synagogue of Kabul like a lion of Jews here, stood against the mujahhideen and the Taliban.”
He added he rarely leaves the compound and believed his country had “no future”.
The Jewish community in Afghanistan once numbered in the tens of thousands and is thought to be some 2000 years old.
Mr Simantov, who is thought to be in his late 50s or early 60s, told the BBC in 2019 he was pressured to convert to Islam but refused.
He said: “They offered me money but I said no. I responded to them that G-d made me Jewish and you Muslim.
“Even the Taliban asked me to convert, but I said no.”
News of Mr Simantov’s decision comes just one week after some of the last remaining Jews in Yemen were deported, effectively ending Jewish presence in the country.
And last month, Dhafar Fouad Eliyahu, a leading orthopaedic doctor, died at the age of 61, leaving just three Jews remaining in Iraq.
) to meet with Russian foreign minister Lavrov and Chinese foreign minister Yi and so far they're talking a consistent game of reform and inclusion. Perhaps China can manage with economic development and trade what the US and NATO failed to achieve with drone strikes? It should be interesting.
