Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was found dead, Tel Aviv said on early Sunday. Kogan's killing was confirmed to be a heinous antisemitic terror incident. However, the Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that the missing rabbi had been found dead.
Early Sunday, the UAE's state-run WAM news agency acknowledged Kogan's disappearance. The Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being missing and out of contact. However, it added that the individual's Israeli citizenship was not acknowledged by the country, referring to him only as being Moldovan.
Who killed Zvi Kogan?
Israeli media quoted Ynet as saying that Kogan’s car was found abandoned in Al Ain, around 150 kilometers from Abu Dhabi. Some reports also added that the rabbi was suspected of being assaulted by a group of Uzbeks who later fled to Turkey. However, these reports could cite no source or evidence to back this claim.
Meanwhile, yet other reports claimed the murder to be an act by the Iranian intelligence in the Middle East.
It was on Thursday that Zvi Kogan went missing. The possibility of the rabbi being kidnapped existed from the beginning itself, news agency the Associated Press reported.
The statement from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.
His disappearance comes as Iran has been threatening to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October. A video circulating on social media showed him earlier in the week at a Kosher grocery store in the city-state. The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store that he managed on Dubai's busy Al Wasl Road, was shut Sunday.
Kogan's wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She's the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Iranian Intelligence in Middle East
While the Israeli statement did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE.
Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country.
Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, though Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October.
The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, Israelis have come to the UAE to set up businesses and vacation. Emirati airlines have been a key link for Israel to the rest of the world as other carriers have stopped flying to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv amid the wars.
The UAE also has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners. However, the Mideast wars have sparked deep anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals from other states and others living in the UAE.