The suspects arrested in the alleged killing of Rabbi Zvi Kogan were from Uzbekistan, the UAE’s interior ministry stated on Monday.
Kogan was a Chabad emissary to the United Arab Emirates. He was initially reported missing by his family on Thursday, but his body was recovered on Sunday in the Emirati city of Al Ain, about an hour and a half from Dubai.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denounced Kogan's death as a “heinous antisemitic terrorist act.”
“The murder of the late Zvi Kogan is a criminal antisemitic terrorist attack,” the PMO said. “The State of Israel will act by all means and bring the criminals responsible for his death to justice.”
Shortly after Kogan’s body was recovered, the UAE arrested three suspects believed to be the main perpetrators behind the kidnapping and murder.
'Terrorist incident'
The Mossad and authorities in the UAE opened the investigation based on information that Kogan’s murder might be related to “a terrorist incident.”
“The one enemy [Israel has] today is terrorism, and Iran that supports the terrorism,” said Kara, a Druze who works to promote economic relations between Israel and the Arab world. “The indication that we have now is this is the direction of the investigation.”
Kogan’s body would be sent to Israel for burial after the UAE finished investigating, Kara said.
Israeli officials had suspected Iran’s involvement in the murder of Rabbi Kogan and are now concerned about whether Tehran intends to deploy similar methods in other countries, including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, and parts of Europe.