Taliban international media spokesman Suhail Shaheen denied Monday that the organization gave an interview to Israeli media, after an interview was broadcast on Israel’s KAN station.
“I do many interviews with journalists every day after the falling of provincial centers of Afghanistan and the capital, Kabul, to the Islamic Emirate. Some journalists may be masquerading, but I haven’t done an interview with anyone introducing himself [that] he is from an Israeli media,” wrote Shaheen after news of the interview broke.
The interview was widely reported on August 18. Many observers commented that it was part of the Taliban’s new public relations strategy, with others expressing shock and surprise that Israeli media had secured the interview.
The interview with Roi Kais asked how the Taliban had changed since 9/11. The Taliban spokesman said, “We will not allow our land to be used against other countries.”
Commenters online expressed interest in the interview, particularly in South Asia. One said, “Taliban spokesperson gives interview to an Israel News TV. This is an interesting PR strategy post-Kabul takeover. Taliban isn’t changing but their strategy to establish Islamic Emirate is, learning from past mistakes. More surprises in store, I am sure.”
Mohammad Soliman, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, noted, “This could be a savvy PR moves [sic] so far – international outreach, amnesty, interviews with foreign/Israeli/female journalists and guarantees for Shia minority. Taliban 2.0 pretends to be different from Taliban 1.0 that lost power in 2001.”
Iranian media are very interested in whether their new neighbors to the east were going to be talking to the Israelis. In the wake of various normalization and peace agreements in the Gulf, Iran is of course interested if Jerusalem might be talking to Kabul. But Fars News reassured readers that the Taliban spokesman has said he refused to speak to the “Zionist regime network.”
The spokesman, however, had clarified that he didn’t speak to the Israeli media, but he didn’t call them “Zionists,” which in itself may be an opening.
The Taliban also appeared to deny in the interview that it has links to Hamas, despite the terrorist group congratulating it.
It remains to be seen whether the Taliban will do any other interviews with Israeli media. A request from The Jerusalem Post to the Taliban for an interview was not answered as of press time.