After decades, the ‘last jew’ in Afghanistan mulls exit

Simentov dreads the Taliban’s return

For decades, Zebulon Simentov refused to leave Afghanistan, surviving a Soviet invasion, deadly civil war, the brutal rule by the Taliban and the U.S.-led occupation of his homeland. But for Afghanistan’s last Jew, the prospect of the Taliban’s return has him preparing to say goodbye. “They [the Taliban] call me an infidel,” Mr. Simentov told AFP at Kabul’s only synagogue. “I’m the last, the only Jew in Afghanistan ... It could get worse for me here. I have decided to leave for Israel if the Taliban returns.” That appears likely given the deal struck by Washington to withdraw all U.S. forces by later this year, and the ongoing peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government.