Rabbi's body found missing in UAE and Israel calls it a "abhorrent act of antisemitic terrorism"
The United Arab Emirates announced Sunday the arrest of three people linked to the murder of Israeli Rabbi Tzvi Kogan. The Mossad opened an investigation into his death.
Reference image of an Israeli rabbi.
Authorities in United Arab Emirates found the body of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, who had been missing since last Thursday. Israel called the murder as a horrendous "act of antisemitic terrorism" and announced that the Mossad had opened an investigation. Subsequently, the UAE Interior Ministry announced the arrest of three Uzbek nationals in connection with the murder.
In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry confirmed his death, which they described as "an abhorrent act of antisemitic terrorism." The statement further warned that "the State of Israel will use all means and will deal with the criminals responsible for his death to the fullest extent off the law." The Prime Minister announced that the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, had opened an investigation into the case.
Extreme secrecy about what happened
Currently no details have been provided about where the body was found, the circumstances surrounding the murder or the identity of the suspects. Emirati authorities initially kept a tight lid on the murder until announcing the arrests several hours later. Their reports only mentioned Kogan's Moldovan nationality.
As AFP reports, Tzvi Kogan, who had been married for six months, was an emissary of Chabad-Lubavich, an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic movement that seeks to strengthen the Jewish identity and bring Jews closer to their faith in the world. The rabbi was "murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday," according to a Chabad-Lubavich post on X.
This crime "is a reminder of the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people"
"This vile antisemitic attack is a reminder of the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people," Israeli President Isaac Herzog posted on X. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, in turn called it "a cowardly and despicable anti-semitic terrorist crime."
The United Arab Emirates is one of the Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords in 2020, promoted by Donald Trump in his first term as U.S. president.
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