However, following the 2021 Taliban offensive, his relative, Tova Moradi, was declared the last Jew after Simintov was evacuated to Israel with the aid of Israeli businessman Mordechai Kahana on 7 September 2021.

Simintov's desire to leave Afghanistan stemmed from his concerns of being kidnapped or killed by radical Islamist terrorist groups such as the Islamic State – KP rather than the Taliban.

Thousands of mujahideen fighters, particularly from the Hezb-e Islami militia of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, were reportedly trained by Israeli military instructors.

In a 2005 interview in Kabul with a reporter from the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai hinted at a desire to establish formal ties with Israel, stating: "when there is further progress [in the Middle East peace process], and the Palestinians begin to get a state of their own, Afghanistan will be glad to have full relations with Israel."

He also revealed that he had met Israeli politician Shimon Peres several times, and called him a "dear man, a real warrior for peace.