Rabbi Zvi Kogan found dead days after vanishing in United Arab Emirates as Israel decries ‘heinous antisemitic terror incident’
A rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found dead in what the Israeli government described as a “horrific anti-Semitic terror incident.”
Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldavian man who ran a kosher shop in Dubai, went missing on Thursday and there were suspicions that he had been kidnapped.
His disappearance came as Iran, which backs Hamas and Hezbollah, had threatened to retaliate after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
It has been reported that Mr Kogan’s car was found abandoned in Al Ain, about 150km from Abu Dhabi.
According to the Times of Israel, officials suspect that Uzbek nationals have been activated by Iran and that the terror cell has now fled the UAE for Turkey.
Israel will now “act by all means to seek justice from the criminals responsible for his death,” said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The Emirati government did not immediately acknowledge that Mr Kogan had been found dead.
Mr. Kogan is a Moldovan citizen whose family has moved to Jerusalem. His wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE and is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldavian who ran a kosher shop in Dubai, went missing on Thursday and there were suspicions that he had been kidnapped
The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “will act by all means to seek justice from the criminals responsible for his death.”
The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Kogan was last seen in Dubai.
It described Mr. Kogan as a representative of the branch office, which is located in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Early on Sunday, the UAE state news agency WAM reported Mr Kogan’s disappearance, but pointedly did not acknowledge that he held Israeli citizenship, calling him only Moldovan.
The Emirati Interior Ministry described Mr Kogan as “missing and out of contact”, adding: “Specialized authorities immediately began search and investigation operations after receiving the report.”
Rimon Market, a kosher grocery store Kogan managed on Dubai’s busy Al Wasl Road, was closed on Sunday.
Israel’s largely ceremonial President Isaac Herzog condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for “their swift action.” He said he trusts they will “work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.”