Mossad investigating as Chabad rabbi is feared abducted in the United Arab Emirates

Israeli security and intelligence agencies are involved after an emissary of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement disappeared Thursday in the United Arab Emirates.

Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who works in the capital of Abu Dhabi, may have been the victim of terrorism, according to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Since his disappearance, and given information indicating that this is a terrorist incident, an active investigation has been going on in the country,” the office said in a statement on social media, issued on behalf of the Mossad and the National Security Council. “Israeli security and intelligence orgs, concerned for Kogan’s safety and wellbeing, have been working tirelessly on this case.”

Israeli media is reporting, without citing sources, that Israeli and Emirati authorities believe Kogan was abducted and possibly murdered by Uzbek nationals working on behalf of Iran. Iran, which is known to orchestrate terrorism beyond its borders, vowed to retaliate after Israel bombed its military facilities in October, in its own retaliation against an Iranian missile attack, but so far has not done so.

Kogan, who holds both Israeli and Moldovan citizenship, is one of thousands of rabbis dispatched by the Chabad movement to posts around the world to attend local Jews and Jewish travelers. Chabad expanded its limited presence in the United Arab Emirates starting in 2020, when the Middle Eastern country normalized relations with Israel in a historic agreement; Kogan is listed as one of five rabbis working in the country.

The Hasidic movement called for prayers on Kogan’s behalf on Saturday night, when his disappearance broke into public view.

“We are deeply concerned about Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary who went missing in the Emirati city of Dubai on Thursday,” the Orthodox movement said in a statement attributed to Chairman Yehuda Krinsky. “Our emissaries are working closely with authorities as they investigate his disappearance. We pray, along with the worldwide Jewish community for his safe return, and we ask everyone to keep Zvi haCohen ben Ettel in your prayers.”

Following the official Israeli statement, the UAE’s interior ministry issued a statement on social media late Saturday about the case. Identifying Kogan only as a Moldovan national, it said it had received a report from Kogan’s family and was investigating.

“The Ministry confirmed that the competent authorities, upon receiving the report, began investigation and search operations,” it said in the statement, according to an automatic translation. “It also calls on the public to obtain information from official sources and not to be led by malicious rumors and misleading news that aim to stir up confusion in society.”

Dubai, the UAE’s largest and most international city, quickly became a popular destination for Israeli travelers after the normalization agreement in 2020, the first with Arab countries in a series known as the Abraham Accords. But Israel has officially warned against non-essential travel to the country during the Israel-Hamas war and has advised Israelis living there to remain on high alert.

Chabad representatives and outposts, in some locations the most identifiably Jewish targets, have faced threats before. Police in Greece said last year that they had foiled a planned attack against the Chabad center in Athens; the suspects in that case had ties to Iran. Six people, including the rabbi and his wife, were killed when terrorists attacked the Chabad center in Mumbai, India, in 2008.

Kogan’s wife, who joined him in the UAE, is reportedly the niece of the rabbi murdered in Mumbai.