The press agency of the Gulf state said on Sunday that three suspects in the murder of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi had been taken into custody by the United Arab Emirates.
A murdered Israeli rabbi was discovered after going missing in the United Arab Emirates.
Zvi Kogan disappeared in Dubai on Thursday while working for the Orthodox Jewish organization Chabad in the United Arab Emirates. Chabad works to facilitate Jewish life for thousands of Jewish tourists and residents in the Gulf Arab state.
In an English-language interview in Dubai, former Israeli Druze politician Ayoob Kara stated that Kogan’s body was discovered near the Emirati city of Al Ain, which borders Oman, although it is unclear if he was slain there or somewhere else.
Kara accused Iran of the murder but stated that he was awaiting the conclusion of an inquiry by the UAE.
As a member of the right-wing Likud party, which now controls Israel, Ayoob Kara strives to advance trade between Israel and the Arab world.
Kara stated that after the UAE’s investigation was complete, Kogan’s remains will be transferred to Israel for burial. Israeli and Emirati officials have not disclosed the identity of the perpetrator or the possible motivation for the murder.
The foreign ministry did not respond to Sunday’s announcement that Kogan, who was also a citizen of Moldova, had been found dead, but the UAE state news agency stated that the interior ministry was looking into Kogan’s disappearance.
Without specifically mentioning Kogan’s death, Anwar Gargash, the president of the United Arab Emirates’ foreign adviser, said on social media on Sunday that the UAE will continue to be a “oasis of stability, a society of peace and coexistence.”
