Afghanistan’s last Jew Zebulon Simentov, who was rescued in a humanitarian mission from the country last month after the Taliban took over Kabul, is staying put in an Istanbul hotel for now instead of joining relatives in Israel.
According to a report in the Jewish Chronicle, Simentov told Israeli businessman and humanitarian Moti Kahana, who had helped him leave Afghanistan and was rumored to be arranging for the 62-year old to immigrate to New York City, that he would not move to Israel unless he was paid $10 million and given money to buy a winter coat.
Otherwise, he was prepared to go back to Afghanistan. One of the reasons he cited was that he has “lost a lot of money” by leaving Afghanistan.
In late September, it was reported that Simentov was preparing to move to New York and that he was excited about the prospects of landing in America.
"I like everything in New York. Everything is exciting. I would like to be a U.S. citizen,” he told the New York Post.
In previous statements, Simentov had said he would not move to Israel because he would not grant his wife, who has lived there since 1998 with his daughters, a divorce. Recently, though, he granted his wife a divorce over Zoom.
Simentov has family in Israel, including a brother and sister. Reportedly, he is still intent on moving to New York, where he has an uncle.
His immigration to New York is far from assured, with Kahana recently stating that “Zebulon is a long way down the priorities list for getting into America, behind people who worked for the US in Afghanistan, or who hold green cards. I told him it could take six months to two years, and that it would be much easier for him to go to Israel. He refused and said he would prefer to return to Kabul rather than go to Israel – but I do not know why.”
Kahana asked Simentov’s brother and sister to fly at her expense to Turkey to convince their brother to move to Israel, but they were unwilling.
Simentov reportedly believes that he was tricked into leaving Kabul with assurances that he would go to the United States.
When he was informed that his U.S. immigration was not possible at present, he asked for $10 million and said he was going to stay in Turkey for the next three months.
“I’m not a babysitter. I can’t go on funding and supporting Zebulon in Istanbul for an unlimited time, and I told him I won’t take him back to Kabul," Kahana replied, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Simentov moved out of a Sheraton Hotel room and into cheaper accommodations earlier in the week.
Kahana paid for the new room for one month but said after that he would not pay any further.
He also said he thought that Simentov would stay permanently in Turkey.
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