“The murder of Tzvi Kogan, of blessed memory, is a heinous act of antisemitic terrorism. The State of Israel will utilize all available means to bring the perpetrators to justice,” said the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry.

By JNS

The body of Chabad emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who went missing in the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 21, has been located by UAE intelligence and security services, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign ministry said in a joint announcement on Sunday morning.

“Israel’s mission in Abu Dhabi has been in contact with the family from the beginning of the incident and continues to support them during this difficult time. His family in Israel has also been informed,” the statement read.

“The murder of Tzvi Kogan, of blessed memory, is a heinous act of antisemitic terrorism. The State of Israel will utilize all available means to bring the perpetrators to justice,” it continued.

Chabad said in response to the news that, “With great pain we share that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, UAE, was murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday.”

The PMO said on Saturday evening that the Mossad was investigating the incident and reminded Israelis that the National Security Council (NSC) advisory for the Arab Gulf state was level 3, a moderate travel warning “with a recommendation to avoid any non-essential travel to the country, and for those who are in the country–take extra precautions.”

Kogan stopped communicating with his family on Nov. 20. He reportedly failed to arrive at meetings previously scheduled on that day, and his wife contacted the Chabad security officer, who notified authorities about his disappearance. He reportedly went missing from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai.

He was an emissary for the Abu Dhabi Chabad branch and ran a kosher supermarket in the UAE.

Chabad is one of the largest religious Jewish organizations in the world, with branches in scores of countries.

An Israeli who lives in Abu Dhabi and is acquainted with Kogan told Ynet that the rabbi “is a nice guy who is very active in the community. His family is ruined, and the Israeli and Jewish community is appalled. Kogan was the assistant of Chabad’s chief rabbi in the Emirates, and formed and managed the kosher supermarket of the community.”

Relations between Israel and the UAE were normalized in the fall of 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords. Despite criticisms from Abu Dhabi of Jerusalem’s conduct during its ongoing war against Iranian-backed terrorist groups, a senior Emirati official said late last month that normalization was not at risk.