Israeli-Moldovan rabbi living in UAE goes missing; Israeli officials fear he may have been kidnapped

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Israeli-Moldovan rabbi living in the United Arab Emirates has gone missing, with Israeli authorities raising the suspicion he may have been kidnapped as tensions remain high with Iran.

Zvi Kogan has been missing since noon Thursday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said Saturday.

“Since his disappearance, and against the backdrop of information that this was a terrorist incident, an extensive investigation has been opened in the country,” the prime minister’s office said.

Emirati officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. State-run media in the UAE, an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, did not immediately report the incident.

The UAE diplomatically recognized Israel in 2020, a deal they’ve honored even as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon grind on.

While the Israeli message did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out kidnappings in the past in the UAE.

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