Israel Says Rabbi Found Dead in U.A.E. Was Murdered
Zvi Kogan was abducted and killed in an “act of antisemitic terrorism,” Israel says
A missing Jewish community leader was found dead in the United Arab Emirates, Israel said on Sunday.
Israeli-Moldovan citizen Zvi Kogan, 28, went missing from Dubai on Thursday afternoon, prompting an investigation by Israel’s Mossad spy agency after suspicions were raised that he was abducted in an act of terrorism. Kogan, a rabbi, was an emissary of the Jewish Chabad movement to Abu Dhabi, where he lived with his wife.
Israel said on Sunday morning that Emirati authorities had found Kogan’s body, confirming fears in the local Jewish community.
“The murder of Zvi Kogan, of blessed memory, is an abhorrent act of antisemitic terrorism,” read a statement from Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office. “The State of Israel will use all means and will deal with the criminals responsible for his death to the fullest extent of the law.”
After the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war, Israel warned its citizens and Jews that they might be the targets of attacks abroad by Iran or Iran-linked groups, among others. Amid these concerns, Israel had warned its citizens to limit foreign travel and minimize openly identifying themselves as Israeli or Jewish.
Israel didn’t name a party responsible for Kogan’s killing, but its National Security Council said on Sunday that it believes there is a continuing threat to Israelis and Jews in the region.
Israel suspects Uzbek citizens with ties to Iran were involved in Kogan’s abduction and murder, said a person familiar with the investigation. Iran has relied on Uzbek citizens in the past for foreign missions, the person said. The suspects are believed to have fled to Turkey, where their cars were found, the person said.
Israel has had long-running concerns about Iranian state actors trying to kill or abduct Israelis abroad. Iranian intelligence agents moved to kill Israeli tourists in Turkey in 2022, in a plot uncovered by Israeli and Turkish authorities. Iran has also tried to kill Israeli diplomats, and Iran’s closely linked group, Hezbollah, attempted to kill a former Israeli defense minister. In August, Israel issued a rare travel warning against visiting countries that border Iran, amid threats that Iran-linked actors would try to harm Israelis.
Chabad said that Kogan’s body was found on Sunday morning, in a statement condemning his “murder.” Kogan helped establish the Chabad community in the U.A.E. Israel and the Emirates first normalized relations in the 2020 Abraham Accords.
Abu Dhabi’s Chabad provides Jewish religious support, including for religious ceremonies and celebrations, for the predominantly expat Jewish community in the U.A.E. and broader Gulf region, as part of a global mission to support Jewish life spanning 100 countries.
Chabad’s emissaries are known for supporting Jewish life in countries without large Jewish populations. In some countries, Chabad is the sole or main provider of kosher food or organized religious services. Some Chabad communities are forced to keep a low profile, including in Muslim countries, out of security concerns. Chabad emissaries have also been the victims of past terrorist attacks, including a deadly 2008 attack in Mumbai.
The death of Kogan is setback for the nascent Jewish community in the U.A.E. and broader ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. A Jewish community flourished following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2020, becoming one of the biggest in the Middle East outside Israel.
The Jewish presence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi represented the first new congregations in an Arab nation since the founding of Israel in 1948.
For the U.A.E., the establishment of the Jewish community was an endorsement of the country’s broader strategy to become an open-for-business hub that could attract global talent, regardless of religion or nationality.
Many Jews living in the U.A.E., an authoritarian monarchy, said they felt safer living in the Arab Gulf state than in cities in Europe. The U.A.E. built a compound with a mosque, church and synagogue in Abu Dhabi called the Abrahamic Family House. The Jewish population grew to roughly 2,000 in 2022, with a range of denominations, from liberal to Orthodox, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, however, Jews in the U.A.E. say they have been forced to keep a lower profile, conducting worship only in private homes rather than in public gatherings at hotels, though the synagogue at the Abrahamic compound has remained open.
The caution reflects how tensions over the war in the Middle East have rippled around the world, with attacks against Israelis and Jews in Europe and the U.S. Earlier this month, mobs in Amsterdam beat Israeli soccer fans after releasing a call for a “Jew hunt” on social media.
The Chabad movement has also been less visible in the U.A.E.
Chabad opened its first chapter in the U.A.E. in 2020 and has since helped establish a kosher certification agency, a kosher supermarket and a Jewish nursery in Dubai called Mini Miracles, according to the website of its U.A.E. chapter.
Jewish community members said Chabad-led public worship had also largely stopped over the past year. A Dubai police car was stationed Sunday outside the Mini Miracles nursery and security guards said teaching had been canceled. The supermarket, called Rimon, was also closed.
The movement’s chief rabbi in the U.A.E., Levi Duchman, was a visible ambassador for the Jewish community in the U.A.E. and had a public wedding in Abu Dhabi 2022, inviting journalists and senior Emirati figures. Videos of Arab Muslims and Jews dancing together at the event were shared widely on social media.