Three arrested in murder of rabbi in United Arab Emirates; Israel denounces ‘despicable antisemitic act’
Zvi Kogan was one of five Chabad rabbis to move to the UAE since Israel normalized relations in 2020
Rabbi Zvi Kogan is pictured in an undated photo distributed by Chabad. In background: The Jewish Community Center of the UAE hosts Yom Kippur prayers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 15, 2021 (Andrea DiCenzo/Getty Images) Photo by Andrea DiCenzo/Getty Images
This story has been updated with news of the arrest.
(JTA) — The United Arab Emirates arrested three Uzbek nationals on Sunday in connection with the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad emissary to Abu Dhabi, who had been missing since Thursday. His body was found on Sunday.
A statement of the U.A.E. interior ministry did not offer a motive. Nor did it mention Iran, which has previously carried out kidnappings in the country.
Israel had previously warned that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who worked in the capital of Abu Dhabi as an emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, may have been the victim of terrorism. The Mossad and other security agencies were involved in searching for him, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement late Saturday.
“The murder of the late Chabad emissary Zvi Kogan in the Emirates is a cowardly and despicable antisemitic act of terror,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on social media after Kogan’s body was discovered. “The State of Israel will not rest nor be silent until those responsible for this criminal act pay for their actions.”
Kogan, who held both Israeli and Moldovan citizenship, was one of thousands of rabbis dispatched by the Chabad movement to posts around the world to attend local Jews and Jewish travelers. Chabad expanded its limited presence in the United Arab Emirates starting in 2020, when the Middle Eastern country normalized relations with Israel in a historic agreement; Kogan is listed as one of five rabbis working in the country.
Kogan also managed a local kosher grocery store, according to the Associated Press, which has “been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians.”
Kogan’s murder could pose a test for relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Israeli media is reporting, without citing sources, that Israeli and Emirati authorities believe Kogan was abducted and murdered by Uzbek nationals working on behalf of Iran. Iran, which is known to orchestrate terrorism beyond its borders, vowed to retaliate after Israel bombed its military facilities in October, in its own retaliation against an Iranian missile attack, but so far has not done so.
The Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement had called for prayers on Kogan’s behalf on Saturday night, when his disappearance broke into public view. On Sunday morning, the movement said in a statement, “With great pain we share that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, UAE, was murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday.”
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt tweeted that she was “horrified” by “this heinous act,” adding that “the ongoing targeting of Jewish communities worldwide is abhorrent and must stop.” Sean Savett, the spokesperson for President Biden’s National Security Council, said, “This was a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance and coexistence.” He added: “We commend the rapid efforts of the U.A.E. who now have suspects in custody.”
Dubai, the UAE’s largest and most international city, quickly became a popular destination for Israeli travelers after the normalization agreement in 2020, the first with Arab countries in a series known as the Abraham Accords. But Israel has officially warned against non-essential travel to the country during the Israel-Hamas war and has advised Israelis living there to remain on high alert.
Chabad representatives and outposts, in some locations the most identifiably Jewish targets, have faced threats before. Police in Greece said last year that they had foiled a planned attack against the Chabad center in Athens; the suspects in that case had ties to Iran. In 2019, a gunman in Poway, California, opened fire at a Chabad center, killing one and injuring the rabbi.
Six people, including the rabbi and his wife, were killed when terrorists attacked the Chabad center in Mumbai, India, in 2008.
Kogan’s wife, Rivky, a U.S. citizen who joined him in the UAE, is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was murdered in a 2008 attack in Mumbai.
Benyamin Cohen contributed reporting.
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