United Arab Emirate authorities have arrested three people on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the Gulf country, the Emirati Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
A ministry statement did not give further details on the identity of suspects or their role in the killing, but said the ministry would use “all legal powers to respond decisively and without leniency to any actions or attempts that threaten societal stability.”
Israel has said it believes the murder was an antisemitic terror attack
The UAE statement called Kogan “the Moldovan citizen,” making no mention of his Israeli nationality or that he was Jewish.
An Israeli foreign ministry official told Reuters that Kogan, 28, would hopefully be repatriated to Israel on Monday.
Asked when the body would be brought to Israel for burial, the official said “hopefully tomorrow but it is not confirmed.”
After Kogan’s family filed a report about his disappearance, said the statement, an investigation was initiated leading to arrests “in record time.” The full findings of the investigation will be announced upon its completion.
“The United Arab Emirates, with all its institutions, will spare no effort to prevent any attack on its citizens, residents, and visitors,” said the statement, adding that “all security agencies work around the clock to protect the stability of society and ensure the sustainability of the highest levels of security and safety that have been established since the founding of the state.”
Kogan had entered the UAE on his Moldovan passport and was a resident there, said the UAE statement, which was published by the state news agency.
President Isaac Herzog condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for “their swift action.” He said he trusts they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Kogan, who worked in the UAE for the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad, which seeks to support Jewish life for thousands of Jewish visitors and residents in the Gulf Arab state, vanished in Dubai on Thursday.
In a message on X, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement wrote that he had been “murdered by terrorists.”
“We trust that the UAE will work with the countries in the region to bring the perpetrators to justice, and hold all those involved accountable for this act of sheer evil,” Chabad said and urged every country where its emissaries serve “to ensure that terror finds no haven within its borders.”
Israeli authorities announced earlier that Kogan’s body was found in the Emirati city of Al Ain, which borders Oman, around 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Abu Dhabi.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had called the killing a “heinous antisemitic terrorist act,” adding that Israel would do everything it could to bring those responsible to justice.
Hebrew media outlets reported Saturday that officials suspected several Uzbek citizens recruited by Iran had assaulted the rabbi and later fled to Turkey.
Tehran said it “categorically rejects the allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this individual,” Iran’s embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement to Reuters on Sunday.
Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors now there should minimize movement, remain in secure areas, and avoid visiting places associated with Israel and Jewish populations.
Israelis have flocked to Dubai for commerce and tourism since the Emirates and Israel forged diplomatic ties under a 2020 US-brokered agreement, dubbed the Abraham Accords.
The UAE has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners.
It has maintained the relationship forged through the Abraham Accords during the 13-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
However, the public presence of Israelis and Jews in the UAE has appeared to recede since the devastating Hamas cross-border attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and triggered the ongoing Gaza conflict, which has sparked protests worldwide.
Jewish community members in the UAE told Reuters that informal synagogues in Dubai were closed after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel over security concerns, with Jews instead gathering to pray at home.
The one government-approved synagogue in the UAE remains open in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital. There are no official synagogues in Dubai, the UAE’s biggest city and commercial hub.
There are no official statistics on the number of Jews or Israelis living in the country, but estimates from Jewish groups suggest the community numbers in the several thousand.