Israel has promised to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of a prominent rabbi in the United Arab Emirates, condemning his killing as a “terrible act of terrorism”.
Zvi Kogan, who ran a Kosher shop in Dubai and worked for the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad, disappeared in Dubai on Thursday.
The body of a 28-year-old man was found in the city of Al Ain, which borders Oman, although it is not clear whether he was killed there or elsewhere.
The UAE Ministry of Interior said three suspects had been arrested, but did not elaborate.
His disappearance came as Iran, which backs Hamas and Hezbollah, has been threatening retaliation after Israeli airstrikes in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
Iran’s ambassador in the UAE said it “absolutely rejects the responsibility of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this person”.
A statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called Kogan’s death “a heinous act of terrorism” and said Israel “will do everything possible to seek justice for the criminals responsible for his death”.
Kogan had entered the UAE on his Moldovan passport and was a resident of Dubai, the UAE statement said. His wife, Rivky, a US citizen lived with him in the UAE. He is the nephew of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (EPA)
Chabad, a prominent and observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, is based in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York.
Jews have grown increasingly visible in the UAE since 2020 when the country became the first Arab country in 30 years to establish relations with Israel under the US-brokered agreement known as the Abraham Accords. The relationship was maintained during the 13 months of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.
However, informal synagogues in Dubai were closed after the Hamas attack on October 7, with Jews instead gathering to pray at home amid heightened tensions. Only one government-approved synagogue remains open, in Abu Dhabi.
Kogan’s store is closed on Sundays. Outside, Israeli Druze politician Ayoob Kara said the UAE’s Jewish community was “shocked” by the news of Kogan’s murder, but that Israelis and Jews would visit and build relations in the Gulf country.
“I’m sure many Jews [people] will continue to invest here. There is no way to stop this relationship and this collaboration,” said Mr. Kara.
Ayoob Kara outside the Rimon Market kosher store run by Zvi Kogan (Reuters)
Kogan’s body will be returned to Israel “hopefully” on Monday, Israel’s foreign ministry official said.
Although Israel’s statement on Sunday did not mention Iran, western officials believe that Iran conducts intelligence operations in the UAE and hosts hundreds of thousands of Iranians living throughout the country.
Iran is believed to have kidnapped and then killed British Iranian citizen Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, although Tehran has denied any involvement. Iran also kidnapped German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, returning him to Tehran, where he was killed in October.
Additional reporting from the Associated Press and Reuters