UAE Official Visits Mourning Family of Murdered Chabad Rabbi in Israel
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi flew to Israel to pay a shiva call to the family of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in Kfar Chabad on Nov. 29, 2024. Photo: Provided by Chabad
A senior official from the United Arab Emirates traveled to Israel on Friday to attend the shiva of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who was recently killed in a suspected terror attack in the UAE.
Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi visited family members of Kogan in Kfar Chabad who are observing the Jewish mourning period that takes place after the burial of a family member. Nuaimi is the chairman of the Manara Center for Coexistence and Dialogue, which is based in Abu Dhabi, and also a member of the UAE Federal National Council, where he chairs the Defense Affairs, Interior, and Foreign Affairs Committee.
During his visit to Israel, Nuaimi condemned the attack that targeted Kogan and reiterated the UAE’s commitment to coexistence and peace.
“The UAE will never allow extremists to divide us,” he said. “The state and its citizens are more committed than ever to the values of openness and peace and will increase their efforts to ensure that Rabbi Zvi’s legacy continues and that all communities live in harmony in the UAE.”
An Israeli-Moldovan national, Kogan, 28, had lived in the UAE for several years. He was an emissary for the Chabad branch in Abu Dhabi and ran a kosher supermarket in the UAE. He was reported missing from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai on Nov. 21, and his body was found by UAE intelligence and security services three days later. He was murdered by terrorists after being abducted, according to Chabad.
The Emirati Ministry of Interior said last week that it had identified and arrested in the UAE three citizens from Uzbekistan as suspects in Kogan’s murder: Olimpi Toirovich, 28, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, also 28, and Azizbek Kamlovich, 33.
Officials in the UAE said they have not established a motive for Kogan’s murder, but the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a joint announcement that Kogan was murdered in “a heinous act of antisemitic terrorism.” Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also condemned the “vile antisemitic attack.”
Iran has been accused of being involved in Kogan’s murder, but Iran’s embassy in Abu Dhabi has rejected the accusation.
