By Alexander Cornwell and Crispian Balmer
DUBAI/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Three people have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates in connection with the alleged murder of an Israeli citizen, the Emirates Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry statement did not give details about the suspects or say whether they had been charged, but said all legal powers would be used “to respond decisively and without leniency to any action or attempt that threatens the stability of society.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denounced the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, 28, as a “heinous anti-Semitic terrorist act” and said Israel would do everything possible to bring those responsible to justice.
Kogan was a resident of the United Arab Emirates and also a Moldovan citizen, according to local authorities. He worked with the New York-based Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement and his disappearance was first reported Thursday. His body was discovered on Sunday.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said all Israeli agencies were involved in the investigation and that Kogan was believed to have last been seen in a kosher supermarket in Dubai.
Kogan’s body was found in the Emirati city of Al Ain, bordering Oman, although it was unclear whether he was killed there or elsewhere, former Israeli politician Ayoob Kara told Reuters in Dubai.
Kara, a member of Israel’s ruling right-wing Likud party, which promotes economic relations between Israel and the Arab world, said there were indications that investigators suspected Iranian involvement.
The Iranian embassy in the United Arab Emirates said it “categorically rejects allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this individual.”
Israel again issued a recommendation to citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the United Arab Emirates and said those who are now there should minimize movement, stay in safe areas and avoid visiting places associated with Israel and Jewish populations.
The White House said it was working in close coordination with Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates and our prayers are with his family,” said White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett.
UAE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN ‘SHOCK’ AFTER MURDER OF RABBI
The UAE’s Israeli and Jewish community has become more visible since 2020, when the UAE became the most prominent Arab state in 30 years to establish formal ties with Israel under a US-brokered deal, called the Abraham Accords. .
The United Arab Emirates has maintained the relationship during the 13-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
However, Israelis and Jews have been less evident in public since the devastating Hamas attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023 that sparked the Gaza conflict, which has sparked protests around the world.
Kara said the UAE’s Jewish community was “shocked” by Kogan’s murder, but that Israelis and Jews would continue to visit, build ties and invest in the Gulf country.
“There is no way to stop this relationship and this cooperation,” said Kara, who is not Jewish but a member of Israel’s Druze minority.
Members of the Jewish community said informal synagogues in Dubai were closed after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel over security concerns, and that Jews gathered to pray in their homes.
There are no official synagogues in Dubai, the UAE’s largest city and commercial centre, but the UAE’s only government-approved synagogue, in Abu Dhabi, remains open.
There are no official statistics on the number of Jews or Israelis living in the United Arab Emirates. Jewish groups estimate there are several thousand.