Rabbi’s murder was a ‘crime against the UAE,’ says Emirati ambassador

UAE’s ambassador to the US denounces killing of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who had served as emissary in Abu Dhabi, calling his murder a ‘crime against the UAE.’

By World Israel News Staff

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday condemned the abduction and murder of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi last week, calling it a “crime against the UAE.”

Last Thursday, 28-year-old Chabad emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who served as an aide to the chief rabbi of the UAE and operated a kosher grocery shop in Abu Dhabi, was declared missing.

Over the weekend, his body was found by UAE security personnel.

According to a preliminary investigation, Kogan was abducted by three Uzbek nationals working on behalf of Iran before being murdered.

“Today the UAE mourns for Rabbi Zvi Kogan,” Emirati Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al-Otaiba said in a statement Sunday night.

“Our thoughts are with his family, friends and community over his senseless death. Zvi Kogan’s murder was more than a crime in the UAE – it was a crime against the UAE. It was an attack on our homeland, on our values and on our vision.”

“In the UAE, we welcome everyone. We embrace peaceful coexistence. We reject extremism and fanaticism of every kind. We honor Zvi Kogan’s memory by recommitting ourselves to these values.”

“Now, we are more determined than ever to protecting and sustaining the Emirates as a shining and enduring example of diversity, acceptance and peace.”

The UAE is one of six Arab states with formal diplomatic ties to Israel, becoming the first of four countries to join the Abraham Accords with Israel in 2020.

Also on Sunday, the UAE interior ministry announced that authorities had apprehended the three suspects wanted in connection with the murder of Rabbi Kogan.

The ministry boasted that police had carried out the arrest “in record time.”