UAE court sentences three to death for killing of Israeli rabbi

Shafaq News/ A United Arab Emirates court sentenced three people to death for the killing of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Kogan, state media reported on Monday.

The state-run WAM news agency said the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals’ State Security Chamber also handed a life sentence to a fourth defendant accused of aiding the crime. It did not disclose the identities of those convicted, but three Uzbek nationals had been arrested in Turkiye and extradited to the UAE in connection with the case.

“The defendants had tracked and murdered the victim,” WAM reported, citing State Security Prosecution evidence that included confessions, forensic reports, post-mortem examination findings, and witness testimonies.

Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, had lived in the UAE for several years and represented the Chabad movement, a global Orthodox Jewish group. He was reported missing in November, and his body was found days later in Al Ain, near the Omani border.

Authorities have not provided a motive for the killing, which occurred amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office condemned the killing as an "antisemitic terrorist act."

Diplomatic ties between Israel and the UAE, established under the 2020 Abraham Accords, have remained intact despite strains caused by the war. Israel maintains an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai, where Kogan ran a kosher grocery store.

While not directly accusing Iran, Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have linked Kogan’s killing to an "axis of evil," a term Israel has previously used to refer to Iran and its allies. The UAE has not made such allegations, and Iran’s embassy in Abu Dhabi has denied any involvement.

The UAE has a growing Jewish community, with synagogues and kosher businesses emerging since it normalized relations with Israel. Kogan was buried in Israel.