Disappearance of Rabbi in UAE prompts Mossad investigation

Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are investigating the disappearance of an Israeli-Moldovan dual national in the UAE.

Zvi Kogan, an envoy of the Orthodox Jewish organisation Chabad, has been missing since Thursday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad is conducting an “active investigation” and suspects a “terrorist incident”, it said, while local authorities confirmed a search operation is under way.

“Israeli security and intelligence organisations, concerned for Kogan’s safety and wellbeing, have been working tirelessly on this case,” the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

The UAE’s state news agency said the interior ministry was searching for the missing man and investigating his disappearance.

The UAE established formal ties with Israel under an agreement brokered by the US in, known as the the Abraham Accords.

It has maintained the relationship during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The Israeli government’s travel advisory service warns citizens to only travel to the UAE for “essential reasons”, as they say there is “terrorist activity” in the UAE, which constitutes “a real risk to Israelis who are staying/visiting in the country”.

Chabad UAE did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.