UAE Chabad Emissary Murdered in ‘antisemitic terrorist attack’

The body of the Chabad Emissary to the UAE, Rabbi Zvi Kogan, has been located and identified. Kogan had been missing and presumed dead since Thursday. The Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Affairs Ministry released a joint statement calling the killing of Kogan “a despicable antisemitic act of terror” and vowed to bring the killers to justice. Ynet News reported that his car was found abandoned in Al Ain, about an hour and a half from Abu Dhabi, where Kogan was based. Authorities suspect he was abducted by three Uzbek nationals who were recruited by Iran, before fleeing to Turkey. Intelligence sources have revealed that Rabbi Kogan’s murder was the result of a failed kidnapping operation intended to transport him to Iran.  According to technical evidence and intelligence analysis, the three Uzbek operatives were forced to kill the Rabbi after he actively resisted the abduction attempt. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz called the killing a “cowardly and abhorrent antisemitic terror act,” vowing Israel “will not rest until those responsible for this heinous act pay for their actions.” The National Security Council has reinforced its warning against non-essential travel to the UAE, urging Israelis in the country to avoid businesses and gathering places identified with Israeli and Jewish populations, maintain heightened awareness in public spaces, and refrain from displaying Israeli identifiers.

Rabbi Kogan, who operated the “Rimon” kosher market in Dubai, came from a large Orthodox family and followed his brother Reuven, a significant figure in Dubai, to the UAE after joining Chabad. A former IDF Givati Brigade combat soldier, he served as assistant to Rabbi Levi Duchman, the Chief Rabbi of the UAE Jewish community. 

Rabbi Kogan is the nephew of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was murdered alongside his wife in a terrorist attack at the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai, India in 2008. He also participated in the first-ever Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in the UAE in 2021. 

We here at the Israel Daily News send our heartfelt condolences to the family and communities around the world affected by this news.