Afghanistan–Israel relations

Afghanistan–Israel relations

Afghanistan	Israel

Afghan-Israeli relations are officially non-existent today, as there are no diplomatic exchanges between the two states, but there has been secret and unofficial relationships between two establishments in terms of security, intelligence, and other areas since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. One of the motive behind possible secret relationships is the presence of many Afghan Jews in the high ranking places in Israel. For example, Yoram Cohen, the head of Shin Bet is an Afghan, who immigrated to Israel in after the invasion of the Soviet Union to Afghanistan. The Afghan Royal Family have a well known Origin according to which they are Descendants of the Prophet Jacob, also known as Israel. The House of King Saul of the Tribe of Benjamin, the last son born to Jacob and Rachel.

History

Not only the Pashtuns, but also the Afghan Royal Family has a very well known tradition placing its origin in ancient Israel, they came from the Tribe of Benjamin.

This tradition was first published in 1635 in a book called Mahsan-I-Afghani and has often been mentioned in the research literature. According to this tradition, King Saul had a son called Jeremiah who had a son called Afghana. Jeremiah died at about the time of King Saul's death and Afghana was raised by King David and remained in the royal court during King Solomon's reign.

About 400 years later in the time of disorder of Israel, the Afghana family fled to a land called Gur which is in central Afghanistan. They settled and traded with the people of the area and in the year 662, with the arrival of Islam, the sons of Israel in Gur accept the Ishmaelite prophet, with 7 representatives of the Afghan. The leader of the sons of Israel was Kish like the name of Saul's father. The Afghan Royal Family has the tradition of ancient Israel - Benjamin Tribe of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Yusuf means Joseph and Yusufzai means children of Joseph. The tribes of Joseph are the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh who are a part of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. They also call themselves Bani-Israel meaning children of Israel. Their tradition is that they were carried away from their ancient homeland. Formerly they were shepherds in search of pasture but they gave up their nomadic life and settled into village communities.

During the 1980s, Israel provided armament and training to mujahideen forces who were fighting the Soviet-backed Afghan government. Thousands of mujahideen fighters, particularly from the Hezb-e Islami faction of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, were trained by Israeli instructors. The head of Pakistan's ISI agency, Akhtar Abdur Rahman, apparently allowed the Israeli trainers into his country.

In a 2005 interview in Kabul with a reporter from the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth, Afghan President Hamid Karzai hinted at a desire to establish formal ties with Israel. When "there is further progress [in the Mideast peace process], and the Palestinians begin to get a state of their own, Afghanistan will be glad to have full relations with Israel," he said. He revealed that he had met Shimon Peres several times, and called him a "dear man, a real warrior for peace."

Jews of Afghanistan

Further information: History of the Jews in Afghanistan

The Jewish community of Afghanistan dates back thousands of years. When the state of Israel was created in 1948, the population of Jews in Afghanistan was around 50,000. Many began leaving Afghanistan for the new state. Afghanistan was the only Muslim country that did not revoke citizenship when Jews left for Israel. Afghans moved to Israel based on the promise of the Holy Land. The remaining families fled to the United States in the wake of the Soviet invasion of 1979. Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union a few weeks after the Bactrian Hoard, also known as Bactrian Gold, was first discovered. At least one Afghan Jew, Zablon Simintov, remains today in Kabul.

See also

• Foreign relations of Afghanistan
• Foreign relations of Israel