A rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found dead in what the Israeli government described as a ‘heinous antisemitic terror incident’.
Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan who ran a Kosher shop in Dubai, went missing on Thursday and there were suspicions he had been kidnapped.
His disappearance came as Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, had been threatening to retaliate after a wave of air strikes that Israel had carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
It has been reported that Mr Kogan’s car was found abandoned in Al Ain, around 150km from Abu Dhabi.
According to the Times of Israel, officials suspect Uzbek nationals were activated by Iran and the terror cell has now fled the UAE to Turkey.
Israel will now ‘act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death’, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgement that Mr Kogan had been found dead.
Mr Kogan is a Moldovan citizen whose family moved to Jerusalem. His wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE and is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan who ran a Kosher shop in Dubai , went missing on Thursday and there were suspicions he had been kidnapped
The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel ‘will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death’.
The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.
It described Mr Kogan as being an emissary of the branch, which is based in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighbourhood in New York.
Early on Sunday, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported Mr Kogan’s disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan.
The Emirati Interior Ministry described Mr Kogan as being ‘missing and out of contact’, adding: ‘Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report.’
The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery shop Mr Kogan managed on Dubai’s busy Al Wasl Road, was shut on Sunday.
Israel’s largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for ‘their swift action’. He said he trusts they ‘will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice’.
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