File :Rabbi Tzvi Kogan went missing in the UAE . He was killed and his body was found in Al Ain. The UAE said 3 suspects were arrested. Iran denied any involvement in his murder, Credit: X for file photo of Kogan when he served in the Israeli army
An Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found murdered, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday, denouncing his death as a “heinous antisemitic terrorist act.”
Zvi Kogan, a rabbi who worked in the Gulf Arab country for an Orthodox Jewish group called Chabad, vanished in Dubai on Thursday.
“The state of Israel will use all means at its disposal to bring the criminals responsible for his death to justice,” the prime minister’s statement said.
Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimize movement, remain in secure areas and avoid visiting businesses, gathering places and entertainment venues associated with Israel and Jewish populations.
The UAE’s Israeli and Jewish community has grown more visible since 2020 when the country became the most prominent Arab state in 30 years to establish formal ties with Israel under a U.S.-brokered agreement, dubbed the Abraham Accords.
The UAE has maintained the relationship during the 13-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
However, the public presence of Israelis and Jews in the UAE has appeared to recede since the devastating Hamas cross-border attack on Israeli communities of Oct. 7, 2023 that triggered the Gaza conflict, which has sparked protests worldwide.
Jewish community members told Reuters that informal synagogues in Dubai were closed after the Oct. 7 assault due to security concerns, with Jews instead gathering in small groups at each others’ houses for prayers and Shabbat services.
The one government-approved synagogue in the UAE remains open in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital. There are no official synagogues in Dubai, the UAE’s biggest city and commercial hub.
UAE arrests three suspects
Three people have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates in connection with the alleged murder of an Israeli citizen, the Emirati interior ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry statement did not give details on the suspects or say if they had been charged, but said all legal powers would be used “to respond decisively and without leniency to any actions or attempts that threaten societal stability”.
Kogan was a resident of the UAE and also a Moldovan national, according to local authorities. He worked with the New York-based Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement and was first reported missing on Thursday. His body was discovered on Sunday.
The Israeli foreign ministry said all Israeli agencies were involved in the investigation and that it was believed Kogan had last been seen at a Kosher supermarket in Dubai.
Kogan’s body was found in the Emirati city of Al Ain, of Abu Dhabi which borders Oman, though it was not clear if he was killed there or elsewhere, former Israeli politician Ayoob Kara told Reuters in Dubai.
Kara, a member of Israel’s ruling right-wing Likud party who promotes economic relations between Israel and the Arab world, said there were indications that investigators suspected Iranian involvement.
The Iranian embassy in the UAE said it “categorically rejects the allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this individual”.
The White House said it was working in close coordination with Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the UAE and our prayers are with his family,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.
UAE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN ‘SHOCK’
The UAE’s Israeli and Jewish community has grown more visible since 2020, when the UAE became the most prominent Arab state in 30 years to establish formal ties with Israel under a U.S.-brokered agreement, dubbed the Abraham Accords.
Kara said the UAE’s Jewish community was in “shock” at Kogan’s murder, but that Israelis and Jews would still visit, build ties and invest in the Gulf country.
“No way to stop this relationship and this cooperation,” said Kara, who is not Jewish but a member of Israel’s Druze minority.
Reuters, New York Post