The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who disappeared in the United Arab Emirates has been found. In a statement Sunday, Israel said he was killed in what was described as “a heinous act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel “will act by all means to obtain justice from the criminals responsible for his death.” There was no immediate official reaction in the United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country.
Zvi Kogan, 28, is an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who disappeared last Thursday. He operated a kosher grocery store in the city of Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for trade and tourism since the two countries established diplomatic ties during the Abraham Accords, two peace treaties agreed between Israel and the Emirates. United Arabs on the one hand and between Israel and Bahrain on the other.
The deal held up for more than a year as regional tensions soared, sparked by Hamas' attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel's devastating retaliatory offensive Israel's Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the militant group Hezbollah, has stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the Arab Emirates united.
Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also threatened retaliation against Israel after a wave of airstrikes carried out by Israel in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
The UAE government did not respond to a request for comment.
The official UAE News Agency (WAM) on Sunday acknowledged Mr Kogan's disappearance, but did not acknowledge that he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him as Moldovan. The Emirates Interior Ministry referred to Rabbi Zvi Kogan as someone who was “missing.”
“Specialized authorities immediately began carrying out searches and investigations upon receipt of the report,” the Interior Ministry said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “deeply shocked” by the disappearance and death of Mr. Kogan during a regular meeting of his cabinet on Sunday. He said he appreciated the UAE's cooperation in the investigation and said ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened.
Rabbi Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a branch of Hassidism. He was last seen in Dubai.
Rimon Market, a kosher grocery store that Mr. Kogan ran on Dubai's busy Al Wasl Street, was closed on Sunday. Religious objects appeared to have been torn from the front and back doors of the market when an Associated Press journalist passed by on Sunday.
