Israeli officials remained largely mum on Sunday over the development in Afghanistan and the fact that the US seems to have moved aside very quickly as Taliban insurgents usurped control of Kabul, seeking not to embarrass Washington, senior sources told Israel Hayom Sunday.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as the Taliban entered the capital, saying he sought to avoid bloodshed.
Heavily armed Taliban fighters fanned out across the capital, and several entered Kabul's abandoned presidential palace. Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman and negotiator, said that the group, known for its brutality and especially for its misogyny and violence against women, seeks a "peaceful transition of power" and aimed at forming an "open, inclusive Islamic government."
While most refused to speak on the record, many Israeli officials said that the events unfolding in Afghanistan have "clear and direct implications" for Israel and the Middle East in general.
The images from Kabul resonated across the region "and send a clear message to all extremist Islamists: Iran, ISIS, Hamas, al-Qaida. Israel must draw its own conclusions," one official said.
Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel told Israel Hayom that the "events in Afghanistan mandate we think about the implication to our region. As a rule, extremist Islamic forces will always strive to take over and oppress the local population."
Hinting at the American withdrawal from Kabul, Hendel noted, "Without control on the ground there is no way to restrain the fundamentalists. All you need is to look at the images of them [the Taliban] erasing the depiction of women to remind us of the importance of our democracy."
Events in Afghanistan "prove that the alternative to democracy is utter darkness," he said.
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Yossi Kuperwasser, formerly the head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate's Research Division, said that "the speed in which the Afghan government – and the army set up by the Americans, with its 300,000 troops and advanced equipment – collapsed vis-à-vis the Taliban is a cause for concern.
"It shows how futile and lacking in cultural and political roots was the American attempt to instill liberal worldview in Afghanistan."
The American withdrawal from the Central Asian country, which borders Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north, and China to the northeast, "Will go down in history as another expression of American weakness, which stems from their lacking desire to pay the price for fighting radical Islam over time.
"This could bolster other radical forces such as Iran, ISIS and al-Qaida," Kuperwasser warned.
The United States lowered the flag on its embassy in Kabul on Sunday, as its diplomatic staff in the country was evacuated from the capital.
As of Sunday nights, US forces were in control of the country's airport.
"We are completing a series of steps to secure the Hamid Karzai International Airport to enable the safe departure of US and allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights," the Pentagon and State Department said in a joint statement quoted by French news agency AFP.
"The American flag has been lowered from the US embassy compound and is now securely located with embassy staff," a spokesperson added.
The United States has sent 6,000 troops to the airport to fly out embassy personnel as well as Afghans who assisted the United States as interpreters or in other support roles and now fear retribution.
Their mission will be "focused solely on facilitating these efforts and will be taking over air traffic control," Sunday's joint statement said.
"Given the deteriorating security situation, we support, are working to secure, and call on all parties to respect and facilitate, the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country.
"Those in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan bear responsibility – and accountability – for the protection of human life and property, and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order.
"Afghans and international citizens who wish to depart must be allowed to do so; roads, airports and border crossing must remain open, and calm must be maintained.
"The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity. We in the international community stand ready to assist them," the statement said.
The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA) said on Monday that Kabul airspace had been released to the military and that it advised transit aircraft to reroute, according to a notice to airmen on its website, hastening some airline route switches.
United Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic had already stopped using Afghanistan airspace after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens.
ACAA said any transit through Kabul airspace would be uncontrolled and it had advised the surrounding flight information regions that control airspace.
Kabul's flight information region covers all of Afghanistan.
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said on its Twitter account that an Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi had changed course and exited Afghanistan's airspace shortly after entering, while a Terra Avia flight from Baku to Delhi was also changing course.
Airlines and governments have paid more attention to the risks of flying over conflict zones in recent years after two deadly incidents involving surface-to-air missiles.
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