Israel confirmed today that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday, had been killed and that his body had been found, calling the killing a "monstrous anti-Semitic terrorist incident".
In a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was announced that Israel will use all means to bring the criminals responsible for the death of the rabbi to justice.
The UAE has not yet announced anything about this event.
Zvi Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who disappeared on Thursday, ran a kosher store in Dubai, a city that has been visited by Israeli tourists and traders since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 2020.
The agreement was held during more than a year of heightened tensions in the region due to the Palestinian Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Israel's offensive in Gaza and invasion of Lebanon after months of cross-border clashes with Lebanese Hezbollah have angered Emiratis, Arabs and others living in the Emirates.
Iran, which backs Hamas and Hezbollah, has also threatened to retaliate against Israel after the country carried out airstrikes in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
Early this morning, state news agency WAM confirmed that Kogan was missing, but did not mention that he had Israeli citizenship, only announcing that he was from Moldova.
The Ministry of the Interior of the Emirates said that it is not known where Kogan is and that there is no contact with him, and that the search and investigation began immediately.
The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, whose role in the country's politics is mainly ceremonial, condemned the murder and thanked the Emirates authorities for their quick action. He expressed his belief that they will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Kogan was a missionary for the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, based in Brooklyn, New York. The movement said Kogan was last seen in Dubai.
In the Emirates there is a Jewish community, synagogues and kosher meals are prepared.
The store that Kogan ran was closed today. Since the outbreak of wars in the region, she has often been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians.
The Israeli statement did not mention Iran, but the Associated Press reported that Iranian intelligence services had previously kidnapped people in the Emirates.
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