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Moti Kahana

Palestinians who traveled to South Africa via a charter flight organized by an Israeli group stand in their temporary flat in Johannesburg, South Africa, February 4, 2026. (AP/Jerome Delay)
March 15, 2026, 5:17 pm
Israeli group was behind mysterious flights of Gazans to South Africa, report claims
Associated Press investigation based on documents, dozens of interviews finds Ad Kan group championed resettlement of Palestinians and attempted to hide Israeli involvement
By SAM MEDNICK, Julia Frankel, TOQA EZZIDIN and JAMES POLLARD
Moti Kahana at the Siret border crossing between Romania and Ukraine. (JTA)
July 11, 2025, 4:13 pm
How a US mission to Congo to release prisoners, aided by an Israeli, unraveled
An Israeli-American, a State department official and a former Green Beret came to Kinshasa to lobby the president to release Americans who took part in an attempted coup
By Jessica Donati
Armed and masked Palestinians sit on trucks leading humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Israel, in the Strip's south, April 3, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
October 22, 2024, 9:19 am
As Israel weighs subcontracting Gaza aid delivery, a philanthropist makes his pitch
Moti Kahana, who led extractions of Jews and others in peril from Syria, Ukraine and beyond, says his firm can ensure secure distribution of assistance, prevent Hamas taking control of it
By Jacob Magid
Laiza Vedeneva at the JDC court with her grandmother. (Marcel Gascón Barberá/ JTA)
March 17, 2022, 11:42 pm
‘Jewish soup’ is keeping soldiers and refugees warm at the Romanian-Ukrainian border
A tent operated by the JDC serving bean-and-vegetable borscht is a welcome sight for those fleeing the war, and the aid from local and foreign volunteers doesn’t stop there
By MARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ
Zebulon Simantov is seen at Istanbul Airport, October 17, 2021. (Screenshot: Twitter)
October 17, 2021, 1:54 pm
Last Jew out of Afghanistan set to land in Israel this week
Zebulon Simantov, who recently divorced his Israeli wife, is awaiting visa from Istanbul consulate to travel to the Jewish state; unclear if he plans to stay
By ToI Staff
Zebulon Simantov (right), Afghanistan's last Jew, seen with one of his rescuers, after fleeing to a neighboring country. (Screenshot/Kan)
September 26, 2021, 6:54 pm
Last Jew to leave Afghanistan divorces wife after refusing for over 20 years
Zebulon Simantov, 62, grants a ‘get’ in a Zoom conversation with Sydney- and Istanbul-based rabbis, businessman who organized his rescue
By ToI Staff and Agencies
Zebulon Simantov, Afghanistan's last Jew, seen after fleeing to a neighboring country (Screencapture/Kan)
September 8, 2021, 4:56 am
Footage shows Afghanistan’s last Jew’s perilous escape from Kabul
Video follows Zebulon Simantov on 5-day journey across border as he’s rescued along with dozens of women and children; says he wants to go to New York
By ToI Staff and JTA
Zebulun Simantov is seen in a country neighboring Afghanistan, a number of hours after crossing the border, September 2021. (Screenshot/Kan)
September 7, 2021, 11:30 pm
Afghanistan’s last Jew finally leaves the country, reportedly headed to US
Zebulon Simantov crosses the border to a neighboring country with the help of an ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn fixer and an Israeli-American businessman, report says
By ToI Staff and JTA
Afghan refugees' luggage sits at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base in Madrid, Spain, on August 24, 2021. (Jesus Hellin/Europa Press via Getty Images)
August 29, 2021, 6:12 am
Last Afghanistan Jew’s would-be Jewish rescuers save Afghan women soccer team
An ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn fixer and an Israeli-American businessman rescue athletes, prosecutors and judges from Taliban rule after Zebulon Simantov refuses to leave
By Ron Kampeas
Moti Kahana on a plane from Dubai to New Jersey in february 28, 2021. (Courtesy Moti Kahana)
March 1, 2021, 2:17 am
Stuck abroad, philanthropist hatches a modern Exodus to bring Israelis back home
Moti Kahana has spent years smuggling Jews out of dangerous places. Now, with Israel’s borders shut, he’s looking to the sea and recent history for a way to smuggle people back in
By Tal Schneider
Rabbi Shu Eliovson receives a hug from Thanasis Voulgarakis at the Pikpa refugee camp in Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece. January 19, 2017. (Nave Antopolsky/iAID)
January 19, 2017, 9:35 pm
Jewish and Israeli organizations deliver emergency aid to refugees on frozen Greek island
Team from Amaliah and iAID ships to Lesbos 1.5 tons of winter supplies collected from Israelis in just five days
By Renee Ghert-Zand
An ancient Torah scroll brought to Israel by the final group of Jewish immigrants from Yemen, March 20, 2016. (Arielle Di-Porto for The Jewish Agency for Israel)
March 24, 2016, 9:54 pm
Yemenite Jew said jailed for helping smuggle ancient Torah to Israel
Muslim airport worker also held after images of scroll, 17 members of Jewish community secretly airlifted out, circulate online
By Tamar Pileggi
Israeli-American businessman Moti Kahana, the founder of the Amaliah humanitarian organisation, gives an interview to AFP in Jerusalem on February 18, 2016. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
March 9, 2016, 4:30 pm
Maverick stirs controversy with efforts to ‘rescue’ Mideast Jews
Detractors say US-based businessman Moti Kahana’s ‘reckless’ intervention puts people’s lives in jeopardy
By Joe Dyke
Israeli-American businessman Moti Kahana (center, in green ball cap), looks at documents with members of the Halabi family, the last Jews of Aleppo, whom he had transported out of Syria to Turkey. (courtesy Moti Kahana)
November 12, 2015, 2:48 pm
The stunning tale of the escape of Aleppo’s last Jews
How Israeli-American businessman Moti Kahana arranged a secret operation to transport the Halabi family from Syria to Turkey, and why one member is ineligible to make aliyah alongside her mother and sister
By Cathryn J. Prince
A Syrian army soldier secures the entrance of a tunnel reportedly dug by rebels fighters in Jobar, a mostly rebel-held area on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, on June 2, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/Joseph Eid)
July 3, 2014, 9:25 pm
Jewish-Muslim family escapes from Syria to Israel
Three generations of relatives travel for weeks to escape civil war and make it to the Jewish homeland
By JTA
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