Israel condemns murder of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi in UAE as anti-Semitic ‘terrorism’ act

JERUSALEM, Nov 24: Israel said Sunday an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi was murdered in the United Arab Emirates in what it described as an act of anti-Semitic “terrorism”, and vowed to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

“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.

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 renewed 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.

On Saturday, an Emirati official said the foreign ministry was in touch with Kogan’s family and the Moldovan embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Emirati authorities had launched an investigation and were searching for the missing man, the official added.

The UAE normalised relations with Israel in 2020, alongside other countries including Bahrain and Morocco.

But the war in Gaza triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 has sparked rising anger in the Middle East.

(AFP/RSS)