So what happened to Zvi Kogan? Emissary of the Hasidic movement Habad Loubavitchthis 28-year-old Israeli-Moldovan rabbi, who had lived in Abu Dhabi for several years, was found dead in the United Arab Emirates three days after disappearing. In a joint statement released on Sunday (November 24), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and the country's Foreign Ministry said his body had been located by authorities in the Gulf country. This announcement aroused deep indignation in Israel.
This murder “is a heinous act of anti-Semitic terrorism”thus indicates the common text of the local authorities, specifying that “The State of Israel will use all means at its disposal to ensure that justice is done and those responsible for his death are held accountable”. However, no details were provided on where the body of this ultra-Orthodox rabbi was found, nor on the circumstances of the murder or even on the identity of potential suspects.
Unclear circumstances
The Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence service, opened an investigation, Benjamin Netanyahu's office indicated on Saturday, November 23, announcing the disappearance of the religious leader and already evoking the trail “terrorist” – without any details having been provided to support this possibility.
The United Arab Emirates is one of the Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel under the 2020 Abraham Accords, promoted by Donald Trump during his first term in the White House. Israeli authorities, however, renewed the warning to Israelis to avoid all non-essential travel to the Gulf country, and advised citizens already there to take additional precautions.
“This vile anti-Semitic attack reminds us of the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people”commented Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the social network “It will not stop us from continuing to develop thriving communities in the UAE or elsewhere”he assured. The Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, denounced, also on “a cowardly and despicable anti-Semitic terrorist crime”.
The discreet Emirates
Married for six months according to Israeli media, Rabbi Tzvi Kogan belonged to the Chabad Lubavitch movement, driven by a global missionary commitment aimed at strengthening Jewish identity and bringing Jews closer to their faith. In a message on X where he expresses his “great pain” above a photo of the rabbi, Chabad Lubavitch indicated that Tzvi Kogan had been “murdered by terrorists after being kidnapped on Thursday”.
For their part, the Emirati authorities have observed extreme discretion over this murder, on which they have not commented. Saturday November 23, they indicated that they had “immediately launched search operations” to find Tzvi Kogan, whom they then presented as Moldovan, without mentioning his other Israeli nationality.
A federation of seven emirates tightly controlled by the ruling family, the Emirates prides itself on being a tolerant and safe country. The rich oil state, whose overwhelming majority of the population is made up of expatriates, last year inaugurated an interfaith center in the capital, Abu Dhabi, housing a mosque, a church and a synagogue.
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