UAE arrests three after Israeli rabbi killed

The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday it had arrested three suspects in the murder of an Israeli rabbi, which Israel has called an anti-Semitic attack.

"The ministry of interior announced that the UAE authorities have arrested in record time the three perpetrators involved in the murder" of Tzvi Kogan, a statement carried by the official WAM news agency said.

The ministry described Kogan as "a Moldovan national according to his identification documents at the time of entry into the UAE, where he lived as a resident".

The 28-year-old rabbi's body had been found by security services in the Gulf state, the Israeli prime minister's office and the foreign ministry said earlier Sunday.

The Israeli-Moldovan national was living and working in the UAE as a representative of the Chabad Hasidic movement, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group known for its outreach efforts worldwide.

UAE normalised relations with Israel in 2020 alongside other countries including Bahrain and Morocco.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking of Kogan's death at the start of a cabinet meeting, said that "the murder of an Israeli citizen and a Chabad emissary is an abhorrent anti-Semitic terrorist attack."

In Washington, the White House on Sunday slammed Kogan's killing as a "horrific crime," urging that those responsible should be held accountable.

"It was an assault as well on (the) UAE and its rejection of violent extremism across the board," National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement.

Neither Emirati nor Israeli officials provided any details about the circumstances of Kogan's murder.

An Israeli official, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity, said Kogan's body could be repatriated Monday.

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement said that he would "be laid to rest in Israel".

- 'Great pain' -

In a message on X, the movement expressed its "great pain" alongside a photo of the rabbi, adding that he had been "murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday".

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Kogan's murder a "vile anti-Semitic attack" that he said showed "the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people".

Herzog added in a statement that the murder would not "deter us from continuing to grow flourishing (Jewish) communities in the UAE or anywhere".

Moldova said earlier Sunday its embassy in Abu Dhabi was cooperating with local officials and "closely monitoring the situation, providing the necessary support".

It only mentioned Kogan was missing and did not refer to his death.

Israel renewed a warning for Israelis to avoid any non-essential travel to the UAE, and advised citizens already in the Gulf country to take extra precautions.

Ayoob Kara, a former Israeli minister involved in promoting ties with Middle Eastern countries, called the killing "a surprise".

Speaking outside a kosher market in Dubai which he said Kogan managed, and which was shut Sunday, Kara told AFP: "Everything is beautiful here, everything is in control here."

- 'Oasis of stability' -

The oil-rich Gulf state, whose population is made up mainly of expatriates, opened an interfaith centre last year in Abu Dhabi housing a mosque, a church and a synagogue.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash insisted Sunday the country remained "an oasis of stability, a society of tolerance and coexistence", in a post on X, but made no direct reference to Kogan.

There is no official figure for the number of Jews in the UAE, but the Israeli official said there are about 2,000 Israelis in the UAE, and "the Jewish community is larger", up to twice that figure.

The war in Gaza, triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has sparked rising anger in the Middle East.

In Jordan, a man was killed Sunday after opening fire on and wounding three members of the security forces near the Israeli embassy in the capital Amman, state media said, in an incident described by the government spokesman as a "terrorist attack".

Investigations were underway to uncover the circumstances and motives behind the attack.