UAE names three Uzbek nationals as suspects in rabbi’s murder

Zvi Kogan, whose body was found Sunday, was an emissary of the Jewish Chabad movement to Abu Dhabi.

The UAE government released a picture of the arrested Uzbeks, who may face the death penalty.

The United Arab Emirates named three Uzbek nationals as suspects in the killing of a Jewish community leader in The Gulf state, an incident that has raised concerns about security for Jews in the Arab world.

Israel described the killing of Israeli-Moldovan citizen Zvi Kogan, whose body was found Sunday, as an “act of antisemitic terrorism.” The 28-year-old was an emissary of the Jewish Chabad movement to Abu Dhabi, where he lived with his wife.

Emirati authorities said Sunday that three individuals had been arrested in connection with Kogan’s death. On Monday, they named the three suspects as Olimpi Tohirovic, 28, Mahmudjun Abdurrahim 28, and Azizbek Kamilovich, 33.

Emirati authorities said they had begun a legal process to charge the individuals. The UAE statement included pictures of the suspects in handcuffs and blue prison clothes, their faces each covered by a black mask.

It wasn’t immediately clear if lawyers had been appointed to represent the men. The Uzbek embassy in Abu Dhabi didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kogan went missing from Dubai on Thursday afternoon, prompting an investigation by Israel’s Mossad spy agency. Israeli investigators believe the Uzbek suspects were guns for hire, though it isn’t clear yet who directed the killing, said a person familiar with the investigation. Israeli officials had initially suspected the Uzbek nationals were tied to Iran, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Iran’s Embassy in Abu Dhabi has denied allegations of Tehran’s involvement in Kogan’s death.

Israel and Iran this year have engaged in a series of exchanges of missile fire that have thrust a year-long shadow war into the open. Following the Hamas-led attacks in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza, Israel has intensified a campaign against Iran’s militant allies in the Middle East, directly drawing in Tehran.

Amid the tensions, Israel had warned its citizens and Jews that they might be the target of attacks abroad by Iran or Iran-linked groups. Israel told its citizens to limit foreign travel and minimise openly identifying themselves as Israeli or Jewish. Israel’s National Security Council said on Sunday that it believes there is a continuing threat to Israelis and Jews in the Persian Gulf.

The killing of a religious leader has shocked the small Jewish community in the UAE, an oil-rich confederation of seven sheikhdoms. The community flourished after The Gulf state led a series of diplomatic agreements establishing ties with Israel in 2020, though it has kept a lower profile following the Gaza war. Many Jews had argued they were safer in the authoritarian Muslim state than in Europe.

The UAE, an autocratic monarchy where dissent isn’t tolerated, prides itself on religious tolerance and a business-friendly environment open to every nationality. Nine out of 10 people in the country of roughly 10 million are foreigners.

“Zvi Kogan’s murder was more than a crime in the UAE it was a crime against the UAE.,” Yousef Al Otaiba, the Emirati ambassador to the U.S. who helped negotiate the diplomatic accords with Israel, wrote on X. “It was an attack on our homeland, on our values and on our vision.” Israeli authorities were flying Kogan’s body to Israel Monday for burial. Israeli and UAE authorities’ investigation into Kogan began on Thursday when he didn’t arrive at planned meetings and the people expecting him informed Rivky Kogan, his wife. She turned to the security officer of the Chabad in the Emirates who contacted local authorities for help. The UAE eventually brought Israel into the investigation, the Journal reported.

The depth of co-operation remains unclear, however. The two countries lauded their relationship following the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2020. But relations have become frostier since Israel’s war in Gaza. UAE statements on the killing of Kogan have so far only noted his Moldovan nationality.

Israel has had long-running concerns about Iranian state actors trying to kill or abduct its citizens abroad. Iranian intelligence agents moved to kill Israeli tourists in Turkey in 2022, in a plot uncovered by Israeli and Turkish authorities.

Iran has also tried to kill Israeli diplomats, and Iran’s closely linked group, Hezbollah, attempted to kill a former Israeli defence minister. Israel in August issued a rare travel warning against visiting countries that border Iran, amid threats that Iran-linked actors would try to harm Israelis.

The Wall Street Journal