Three Arrested in UAE Over Murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Israeli-Moldovan Chabad Emissary

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have arrested three people involved in the killing of Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the Gulf country, the Emirati Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

A ministry statement did not give further details on the identity of suspects or their role in the killing, but said the ministry would use “all legal powers to respond decisively and without leniency to any actions or attempts that threaten societal stability.”

Kogan, 28, who worked in the UAE for the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad, which seeks to support Jewish life for thousands of Jewish visitors and residents in the Gulf Arab state, vanished in Dubai, where he ran a kosher grocery store, on Thursday.

His body was found in the Emirati city of Al Ain, which borders Oman, around 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Abu Dhabi, Israeli authorities announced early Sunday.

It was reported that Kogan’s car was found abandoned in Al Ain. It added, without citing sources, that there were signs of a struggle in the vehicle. Officials suspect a number of Uzbek citizens recruited by Iran assaulted the rabbi and later fled to Turkey, the report said.

Israel has called the murder an antisemitic terror attack.

The UAE’s Ambassador to the US, Yousef Al Otaiba, said in a statement posted on X that the US “mourns for Rabbi Zvi Kogan. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and community over his senseless death.” His murder “was more than a crime in the UAE, it was a crime against the UAE. It was an attack on our homeland, on our values and on our vision.”

An Israeli foreign ministry official told reporters that Kogan’s body would hopefully be repatriated to Israel on Monday.

After Kogan’s family filed a report about his disappearance, the UAE statement said, an investigation was initiated, leading to arrests “in record time.” The full findings of the investigation would be announced upon its completion, it said.

“The United Arab Emirates, with all its institutions, will spare no effort to prevent any attack on its citizens, residents, and visitors,” said the statement, adding that “all security agencies work around the clock to protect the stability of society and ensure the sustainability of the highest levels of security and safety that have been established since the founding of the state.”

Kogan had entered the UAE on his Moldovan passport and was a resident there, said the UAE statement, which was published by the state news agency.

President Isaac Herzog condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for “their swift action.” He said he trusted they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

The White House late Sunday branded the murder a “horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance and coexistence.”

“It was an assault as well on the UAE and its rejection of violent extremism across the board,” said National Security spokesperson Sean Savett in a statement. He said the US was in contact with Emirati and Israeli authorities, offering its support. The spokesperson also praised the UAE for quickly arresting several suspects and called for those responsible to be held “fully accountable.”

In a message on X earlier Sunday, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement wrote that Kogan had been “murdered by terrorists.”

“We trust that the UAE will work with the countries in the region to bring the perpetrators to justice, and hold all those involved accountable for this act of sheer evil,” Chabad said, and urged every country where its emissaries serve “to ensure that terror finds no haven within its borders.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called the killing a “heinous antisemitic terrorist act,” adding that Israel would do everything it could to bring those responsible to justice.

Tehran said it “categorically rejects the allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this individual,” Iran’s embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement to reporters on Sunday.

Kogan was a dual Israeli-Moldovan citizen, who reportedly served in the Israel Defense Forces’ Givati Brigade.

He had been part of the Abu Dhabi Chabad chapter since Israel normalized ties with the UAE in late 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

According to Chabad, Kogan worked to expand Jewish life in the UAE alongside Chief Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Duchman, including ensuring the wide availability of kosher food and opening the first Jewish education centre in the country.

The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on Dubai’s busy Al Wasl Road, was shut Sunday. As the wars have roiled the region, the store has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters. Mezuzahs on the front and back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off.

Erizia Rubyjeana

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