Israel has now reported that a Jewish community leader who had been missing was abducted and killed in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday in what they referred to as an “act of antisemitic terrorism.”
Zvi Kogan, a 28-year-old Israeli-Moldovan citizen, disappeared from Dubai on Thursday afternoon.
This incident prompted an investigation by Israel’s Mossad espionage agency, which was prompted by suspicions that he was abducted in an act of terrorism.
Kogan, a rabbi, served as an emissary of the Jewish Chabad movement in Abu Dhabi, where he resided with his wife.
On Sunday morning, Israel confirmed the concerns of the local Jewish community by announcing that the Emirati authorities had located Kogan’s body.
Israel issued a warning to its citizens and Jews that they could be the targets of attacks abroad by Iran or Iran-linked groups, among others, following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that initiated the Gaza conflict.
Israel had issued a warning to its citizens to restrict their foreign travel and to refrain from overtly identifying themselves as Israeli or Jewish in response to these concerns.
The National Security Council of Israel stated on Sunday that it is of the opinion that there is a persistent threat to the lives of Israelis and Jews in the region, although it did not identify a party culpable for Kogan’s murder.
A person familiar with the investigation has stated that Israel suspects that Uzbek citizens with connections to Iran were responsible for Kogan’s abduction and murder.
The individual stated that Iran has historically utilized Uzbek citizens for foreign missions. According to the individual, the suspects are suspected of having escaped to Turkey, where their vehicles were discovered.
Israel has harbored persistent apprehensions regarding Iranian state actors’ attempts to murder or abduct Israelis in foreign countries.
In 2022, Israeli and Turkish authorities discovered a conspiracy by Iranian intelligence agents to assassinate Israeli tourists in Turkey.
Iran has also attempted to assassinate Israeli diplomats, and Hezbollah, an organization with which Iran is closely affiliated, has also made an attempt to assassinate a former Israeli defense minister.
Israel issued a rare travel warning in August, cautioning against visiting countries that border Iran due to concerns that Iran-linked actors would attempt to harm Israeli people.
Kogan’s corpse was discovered on Sunday morning, according to Chabad. Kogan played a role in the establishment of the Chabad community in the United Arab Emirates.
The 2020 Abraham Accords marked the initial instance of normalization between Israel and the Emirates.
According to two members of the local Jewish community, Kogan served as the administrator responsible for ensuring that Rimon, Dubai’s kosher supermarket, adhered to Jewish dietary laws.
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