The Jewish rabbi, who was kidnapped and murdered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), may have been killed by an Iran-linked terrorist squad, the Israeli intelligence services believe.
Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE, has gone missing since Thursday. The body of the 28-year-old rabbi was found by the local authorities early morning Sunday.
The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was treating the incident as a terrorist act. “The Mossad announced an “intense” investigation in the Emirates after confirming that his disappearance was a terrorist act,” Israeli news website YNET revealed.
The intelligence agency “believed Iran used an Uzbek cell to abduct and murder Kogan, aiming to maintain “plausible deniability.” The identities of the suspects are known,” the new outlet added.
The three-member terror cell may have fled to Turkey following the murder. “Authorities suspect that he was abducted by three Uzbek nationals who subsequently fled to Turkey,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
The Iran-linked squad had been spying on the rabbi ahead of his disappearance, intelligence reports suggest. “Security sources suspect Kogan was murdered by operatives working for Iran, who reportedly surveilled him from his kosher grocery business in Abu Dhabi before escaping to Turkey,” the Israel Hayom newspaper said.
The Jerusalem Post reported the official Israeli response:
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have identified the body of previously missing Chabad emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on Sunday morning.Mossad and authorities in the Gulf country had opened the investigation based on information that Kogan’s disappearance may be related to “a terrorist incident.””The Israeli mission in Abu Dhabi has been in contact with the family since the beginning of the incident and continues to support them during this difficult time,” the PMO and Foreign Affairs Ministry stated. “His family in Israel has also been informed.””The murder of the late Zvi Kogan is a criminal antisemitic terrorist attack,” the statement continued. “The State of Israel will act by all means and bring the criminals responsible for his death to justice.” (…)“Israeli intelligence and security agencies are working tirelessly out of concern for Zvi Kogan’s safety and well-being,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office promised on Saturday. (…)Kogan had only been married for a little over a year before his death. Before moving to the UAE, he served in the IDF. (…)In response to news of the death, Chabad wrote “With great pain, we share that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, UAE, was murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday.”
Iran has been involved in similar incidents of kidnapping and execution in the region. The incident had “troubling echoes of the abduction by Iranians of German-Iranian dissident Jamshid Sharmahd; he was kidnapped from Dubai to Iran via Oman and was eventually executed,” the i24NEWS noted Sunday.
Kogan, who also ran a kosher grocery in Dubai, had been a target of pro-Hamas online trolls in the wake of the ongoing Gaza conflict. “Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife, Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters,” the Sky News (UK) reported.
He is the nephew of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed by terrorists in 2008 attack on Mumbai Chabad House. Rabbi Gavriel and his wife, Rivkah Holtzberg, where murdered and their bodies mutilated in a coordinated Islamic terror attack that left 190 people dead, including six Americans.
Recalling Kogan’s contribution to the Jewish community in the UAE, the Chabag.org said in a statement:
Kogan, a dual Israeli-Moldovan citizen, worked alongside Rabbi Levi Duchman, Rabbi to the United Arab Emirates, and other Chabad emissaries for several years in establishing and expanding Jewish life in the Emirates. Among the many milestones was the founding of the first Jewish education center in the Gulf, and making kosher food widely available. Kogan was joined by his wife, Rivky, after their marriage in 2022.
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