Jewish life in Afghanistan will end with departure of last Jew later this year

Jewish life in Afghanistan, which began at least 1,500 years ago, will end with the departure of the country’s last Jew, Zabulon Simantov, 61, who is to leave for Israel after this year’s High Holidays season in the autumn.

Mr Simantov’s wife and their two daughters have lived in Israel since 1998. But Mr Simantov, who sells carpets and jewellery, stayed on in the Afghan capital, Kabul, to take care of the country’s last synagogue through decades of war and political turmoil.

Mr Simantov was born in Herat – an Afghan city once home to hundreds of Jews – but moved to Kabul and then to Tajikistan in 1992 before returning to “protect the synagogue of Kabul like a lion of Jews.”

He now fears that the American promise to withdraw troops from the country will create a vacuum to be filled with radical groups such as the Taliban. He told a local news channel: “I will watch on TV in Israel to find out what will happen in Afghanistan.”

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