Incredibly, it appears to be true. If you do a Google search on "Kabul jews", you'll find it's been reported all over the place, right back to August of this year. Levy seems to be lying about his age - several sources have him down as 72. The more you look into it, the funnier it gets.
As for the casting, it's a shame Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are gone. Jerry Stiller would be great though. "Serenity now!!"
Billy Crystal and Robert DeVito, as in "Throw Mother from the Train".