Apparently, Afghanistan and Israel seem to be two distinct countries with different diasporas, cultures, and religions. One can label them as enemies with regard to what Israel is doing in Gaza and the seizure of Jerusalem. Afghanistan represents a population having extreme Islamic views, while Israel upholds Zionist beliefs. But the astonishing fact here is that the Afghan people and Jews have deep-rooted historical ties with each other.

For hundreds of years Afghanistan hosted a large, flourishing Jewish community. With roots in antiquity, the Afghan Jewish community built rich lives in the face of political upheaval and many other challenges. Initially, the Jewish communities lived in Afghanistan, Iran, and other Central Asian countries. However, with the passage of time, they migrated and returned back to Israel. These communities are now residing in Central Israel and Jerusalem, often informally referred to as “Little Kabul.” Let’s critically analyze this intricate relationship between the two communities and their contemporary standing.

A big part of the Jewish population escaped to Persia and settled in the regions that constitute present-day Afghanistan in the Babylonian exile, 6th century BCE. Afghanistan was, at the time, under the Khorasan kingdom; it is very probable that Jews were residing there. Also, the ancient Hebrew writings and traditions testify that there were numerous Jewish settlements in the Balkh and Samangan parts of Afghanistan. In his documentaries, the 12th-century Jewish traveller Rabbi Benjamin stated that as a result of the Babylonian exile, the scattered Jewish people moved to the Middle East and Asia, where a large number of the Jews at that time lived in Ghazna, now Ghazni.

There had been in the metropole of Ghazni, under Sultan Mahmud, a Jewish community of 8,000 whose function included service in government and the........

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