Rabbi Zvi Kogan, an emissary to Abu Dhabi’s Chabad chapter, has been missing since Thursday, and Israel’s security services reportedly fear he was kidnapped or murdered, it emerged Saturday.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement confirming Kogan’s disappearance and said authorities were treating the incident as a suspected act of terrorism.
The PMO added that the Mossad intelligence agency had launched an “extensive” investigation into the incident alongside Emirati authorities.
At the same time, the National Security Council issued a reminder that it has advised for some time not to travel to the United Arab Emirates for non-essential purposes.
Ynet cited security officials as saying there is growing suspicion Kogan was murdered, and the Walla news site reported that Israel has information that he was being followed by Iranian intelligence, citing security sources.
Kogan is a dual Israeli-Moldovan citizen, and has been part of the Abu Dhabi Chabad chapter since Israel normalized ties with the UAE in late 2020. According to Ynet, Kogan participated in the first ever Holocaust remembrance day ceremony in the Gulf state in 2021, and led the Yizkor prayer during the event.
Kogan is the nephew of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was murdered along with his wife in a terror attack at the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai in 2008, Channel 12 news reported.
A large menorah is seen lit at the Israeli Pavilion of Expo 2020 in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on November 28, 2021, marking the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. (Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)
Kogan has served as an aide to the Chief Rabbi of the United Arab Emirates, Rabbi Levi Duchman.
The UAE became the most prominent Arab state in 30 years to establish formal ties with Israel under a US-brokered agreement in 2020, dubbed the Abraham Accords. It has maintained the relationship throughout Israel’s more than 13-month war in Gaza.
President Isaac Herzog meets representatives of the Jewish community in the UAE, Janaury 30, 2022. Top row (right to left): Yifat Turbiner, Steve Benchimol, Rabbi Levi Duchman, Rabbi Eli Abadi, Daniel Seal, Sarah Benchimol, and Ross Kriel. Bottom row (right to left): Israeli Ambassador in the UAE Amir Hayek, President Isaac Herzog, First Lady Michal Herzog, UAE Ambassador in Israel Mohamed Al Khaja. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Israel has been on high alert for Iranian efforts to harm Israelis and Jews around the world through its various agents and proxies, as the countries have exchanged direct military blows for the first time this year.
Iran launched major drone and ballistic missile attacks against Israel in April and October, in response to Israeli strikes on its proxies in Lebanon and Syria. In late October, Israel retaliated with a series of strikes in which dozens of aircraft targeted strategic military sites across Iran as well as air defense batteries.
Iran has vowed to respond but has not yet done so in any major capacity.
