UAE hands death penalty to killers of Israeli rabbi

ABU DHABI,— A court in the United Arab Emirates sentenced three people to death on Monday for the killing of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi last November, according to the state-run WAM news agency.

The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court ruled that that the killing of 28-year-old Zvi Kogan was motivated by “terrorism”, according to WAM.

Kogan, who had been living in the UAE, was a representative of Chabad, a global Orthodox Jewish organization that engages with unaffiliated and secular Jews. His death was condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office as an “antisemitic terrorist act.”

Along with the three individuals sentenced to death, a fourth defendant received a life sentence for involvement in the killing. Under UAE law, death sentences can be appealed.

The UAE’s Ministry of Interior said in November that three of the individuals arrested in connection with the crime were Uzbek nationals.

Violent crimes of this nature are uncommon in the UAE, which is widely regarded as one of the safest countries in the Middle East.

Kogan had been a resident of the UAE for several years, where he played a role in the growing Jewish community. He was reported missing in November, and authorities later found his body in Al Ain, a city near the border with Oman.

UAE sentences three killers of Israeli rabbi Zvi Kogan to death, March 2025. Photo: UAE’s police

The Jewish presence in the UAE has become more visible since the country established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords. However, since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, Jewish visibility in the UAE has decreased.

Following the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, members of the Jewish community said informal synagogues in Dubai were shut down due to security concerns, with worshippers gathering in private homes instead.

There is no official data on the number of Jews or Israelis living in the UAE, though Jewish organizations estimate the population to be in the thousands.

(With files from Reuters)