Chabad Sources: Kidnapped Rabbi Zvi Kogan’s Body Discovered

Photo Credit: Courtesy

Rabbi Zvi Kogan during his IDF service

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates are examining a body that has turned up amid the ongoing search for Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the local Chabad emissary, Chabad sources reported Sunday morning..

Rabbi Kogan’s body was found after he had been kidnapped and murdered, most likely by an Uzbeki terrorist cell sent by Iran.

החשד לחטיפת שליח חב”ד: גופה של גבר אותרה באמירויות וזהותה נבדקת • על פי דיווחים היא שייכת לשליח חסידות חב”ד, הרב צבי קוגן, שנעדר מאז יום חמישי האחרון ובגורמי הביטחון העריכו כי נחטף על מנת לפגוע בנוכחות היהודית באזור

לכתבה – https://t.co/rYkdlSg2Lj@TalMeir2 #ישראל_הבוקר pic.twitter.com/AwUbNNyBXG

— עכשיו 14 (@Now14Israel) November 24, 2024

Rabbi Zvi Kogan was the manager of the kosher supermarket Rimon in Dubai. His widow, Rivka Kogan (nee Spielman), is the niece of the emissary Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg Hy’d who was murdered 16 years ago in the Chabad House in Mumbai, India.

Rabbi Kogan has been missing since last Thursday and security officials estimated he had been kidnapped to harm the Jewish presence in the UAE, which is one of the friendliest countries to Israel and Jews.

ברוך דיין האמת: עצוב, עצוב מאוד. השליח הרב צבי קוגן הי״ד, נרצח על ידי מחבלים נתעבים וגופתו זוהתה סופית. איראן המתועבת שמסתתרת מאחורי חוליות ומדינות זרות, חייבת לשלם מחיר יקר. אין מנוס מפעולת תגמול של נפש תחת נפש. אחרת, זה לא ייעצר בדובאי. עד מתי? pic.twitter.com/GMdRXF2E0c

— יוסי אליטוב Yossi Elituv (@yoelituv) November 24, 2024

Last Thursday, Rabbi Kogan failed to show up for several scheduled meetings in the Al Ain, a desert city about 150 kilometers from Dubai. His family, unable to contact him, reported his absence to the Israeli authorities, which led to the immediate Launching of an international investigation.

The missing Rabbi’s car was found abandoned in the area.

A bizarre statement was issued on Saturday by the UAE Foreign Ministry, in which the rabbi was presented as a Moldovan citizen, with no mention of him being a rabbi or an Israeli citizen. “The UAE Foreign Ministry is closely following the case of the missing Moldovan citizen,” the statement said.