Israeli government has stated that an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Kogan who went missing in the United Arab Emirates was murdered in what it described as a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.” Zvi Kogan, who worked for the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad in the UAE, had been missing since Thursday.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying that Israel would use all available resources to bring those responsible for his death to justice. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, also condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for their quick response.
On Sunday, the UAE’s state news agency confirmed Kogan’s disappearance but referred to him only as Moldovan, not mentioning his Israeli citizenship. The exact time and location of the discovery of the 28-year-old’s body remain unclear.
Israeli authorities reiterated their advice against non-essential travel to the UAE and urged those currently there to limit movement and stay in secure areas.
The UAE and Israel normalized relations in 2020, joining Bahrain and Morocco. Despite the ongoing tensions since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023, the agreement has held. Israel’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon have fueled anger among Emiratis and other Arab nationals in the UAE.
Tensions have also risen in other parts of the region. In Jordan, a man was killed on Sunday after opening fire on three security officers near the Israeli embassy in Amman, an incident the government described as a “terrorist attack.”
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement, based in the U.S., confirmed that Kogan was last seen in Dubai and was murdered after being abducted on Thursday. His body was found early on Sunday, and his family has been notified. Kogan managed the Rimon Market, a small kosher supermarket on Dubai’s Al Wasl Road, which had been targeted by Palestinian supporters in online protests.
Ynet, an Israeli news website, reported that Kogan’s car was found abandoned in Al Ain, a town 80 miles from Dubai, and investigators believe he was followed by three Uzbek operatives. Other Israeli media speculated that a cell indirectly linked to Iran might be responsible for his abduction and killing. Haaretz reported that the operatives were Uzbek citizens who fled to Turkey to divert attention from Iran.
Tehran’s intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE, and Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations there, monitoring the large Iranian population across the country.
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