Israel denounces murder of Israeli in UAE after body found

Jerusalem/Dubai - An Israeli man who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found murdered, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Sunday, denouncing his death as a "heinous antisemitic terrorist act".

Zvi Kogan, a rabbi who worked in the Gulf Arab country for an Orthodox Jewish group called Chabad, vanished in Dubai on Thursday.

"The state of Israel will use all means at its disposal to bring the criminals responsible for his death to justice," the prime minister's statement said.

The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately comment on news that the body of Kogan, who also held Moldovan citizenship, had been discovered. Chabad's office in the UAE declined to comment.

Chabad seeks to build links with non-affiliated and secular Jews or other sects of Judaism. The group's branch in the UAE supports thousands of Jewish visitors and residents, according to its website.

Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement, remain in secure areas and avoid visiting businesses, gathering places and entertainment venues associated with Israel and Jewish populations.

The UAE's Israeli and Jewish community has grown more visible since 2020 when the country became the most prominent Arab state in 30 years to establish formal ties with Israel under a U.S.-brokered agreement, dubbed the Abraham Accords.

The UAE has maintained the relationship during the 13-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

However, the public presence of Israelis and Jews in the UAE has appeared to recede since the devastating Hamas cross-border attack on Israeli communities of Oct. 7, 2023 that triggered the Gaza conflict, which has sparked protests worldwide.

Jewish community members told Reuters that informal synagogues in Dubai were closed after the Oct. 7 assault due to security concerns, with Jews instead gathering in small groups at each others' houses for prayers and Shabbat services.

The one government-approved synagogue in the UAE remains open in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital. There are no official synagogues in Dubai, the UAE's biggest city and commercial hub.

There are no official statistics on the number of Jews or Israelis living in the country, but estimates from Jewish groups suggest the community numbers in the several thousand.

Jews have lived in the UAE for decades and largely practiced their faith discreetly until in 2019, when the government began publicly acknowledging their presence.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, Menna Alaa El Din, Andrew Mills and Alexander Cornwell; editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Mark Heinrich)