Zvi Kogan had been missing in the United Arab Emirates since Thursday
CNN | Published November 24, 2024
An Israeli rabbi missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found dead, Israeli authorities said on Sunday, in what they described as an “antisemitic terrorist act.”
Zvi Kogan, who also holds Moldovan citizenship and is a representative of Chabad, a religious movement of Hasidic Jews with communities, synagogues and other institutions in many countries, had been missing since Thursday afternoon. Chabad’s official website says he was abducted from Dubai.
In a joint statement Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Kogan’s body had been located by UAE authorities.
“The murder of Tzvi [Zvi] Kogan, of blessed memory, is a heinous antisemitic terrorist act. The State of Israel will use all means at its disposal to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice,” the statement said.
CNN has contacted the UAE government for comment.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, condemned the killing as a “cowardly and despicable act of anti-semitic terror.”
Israeli authorities have reissued travel advice for nationals, recommending against non-essential travel and say visitors should minimize movement and stay in secure places.
The UAE interior ministry confirmed Saturday it “had received a report from the family of a Moldovan national named Zvi Kogan, stating that he has been missing and out of contact since last Thursday” and that an investigation was underway.
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SOURCE: www.cnn.com
RELATED: Tzvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan envoy of the Chabad movement in the UAE, reportedly went missing on Thursday.
Tzvi Kogan, who went missing in the UAE this week, formerly served in the Israeli army [Credit: X]
THE NEW ARAB | Published November 24, 2024
Israel said on Sunday an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi and former soldier who went missing in the United Arab Emirates was murdered, in what it called an act of “antisemitic terrorism”.
“The intelligence and security authorities in the United Arab Emirates have located the body of Tzvi Kogan, who had been missing since Thursday, November 21,” the prime minister’s office and the foreign ministry said in a joint statement.
“The murder of Tzvi Kogan, of blessed memory, is a heinous act of antisemitic terrorism,” it said, adding that Israel would do everything in its power “to ensure that justice is served and that those responsible for his death are held accountable.”
Kogan was an emissary for the ultra-Orthodox Chabad Hasidic movement in the UAE. According to Israeli outlet Ynet, he had previously served as a soldier in the Israeli army’s Givati Brigade, whose members have been carrying out deadly military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year.
He was also an aide to Rabbi Levi Duchman, the chief rabbi of the UAE, who controversially normalised ties with Israel in late 2020.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on Saturday said Israel was investigating Kogan’s disappearance in the UAE as a “terrorist incident”.
It issued a warning for Israelis to avoid any non-essential travel to the UAE, and advised citizens already in the Gulf country to take extra precautions.
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