Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad emissary based in Abu Dhabi, was abducted and killed, authorities said. Photo courtesy of Chabad
Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan, who had been missing since Thursday in Dubai, has been found dead, officials announced Sunday.
“Tragically, Kogan’s body was recovered by the Emirati authorities early Sunday morning, and his family was notified,” the Hasidic Jewish movement Chabad said in a statement. Advertisement
Israeli officials said Kogan was murdered, and called his death an act of alleged “terrorism.”
“With great pain we share that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., was murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday,” Chabad continued in the statement, saying his body had been recovered early Sunday morning.
Officials in the United Arab Emirates said Saturday that they were searching for the missing rabbi and did not comment Sunday on his death. A senior official tried to distance the UAE from the incident, saying the country is a “safe place.”
“With the determination and resolve of its leadership and people, the U.A.E. will remain a safe haven, an oasis of stability, a society of tolerance and coexistence,” Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president, wrote on social media. Advertisement
According to Chabad, Rabbi Kogan had worked “for several years in establishing and expanding Jewish life in the Emirates.” His wife, Rivky, joined him there after their marriage in 2022, the movement’s statement said.
The Israeli government has said it possesses information indicating that the killing was an act of “terrorism” without offering details. Israel has not said who might have been behind the attack but has accused Iran and its proxies of seeking to target Israelis abroad.
The Emirati government did not mention Kogan’s Israeli nationality during the search that followed the rabbi’s disappearance, referring only to his Moldovan citizenship.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Kagan’s killing “a despicable antisemitic terrorist attack,” without any evidence that the attack was an act of antisemitism. He told his cabinet ministers that Israel would “exact justice” on those responsible.
