Grieving kin of Dubai terror-victim Rabbi Zvi Kogan said Sunday they always thought he was “invincible,’’ even as they recalled warning him against moving there, given their tragic ties to a past terrorism act.
The widow of the 28-year-old murdered rabbi had an aunt and uncle killed in a terror attack in Mumbai in 2008.
“This is like reopening old wounds,” said Rabbi Aharon Spielman, the brother of Kogan’s widow, Rivky, to The Post.
“My mother specifically had her reservations, being that her brother was murdered in Mumbai,” Spielman said about his younger sister and her husband Kogan moving to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates after they married in 2022.
Rivky’s uncle, Gavriel Holtzberg, along with his wife, Rivka, were murdered during the 2008 terror attacks in India, Spielman said. Brutal shootings and bombings organized by Islamist militants took place over four days that November, targeting luxury hotels, a Jewish cultural center and other populous places, leaving 175 people dead.
In the UAE, a country considered one of the safest in the world, Kogan’s murder is “clearly antisemitic,” Spielman said.
At least one Israeli official has blamed Iran for the rabbi’s slaying.
The UAE said Sunday that three suspects have been arrested in Kogan’s murder but did not elaborate.
“He was targeted because he was a Jew. Not only was he a Jew, but one who proudly raised the Jewish banner,” Spielman said of Kogan, who worked for the Orthodox Jewish faith-spreading group Chabad.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denounced Kogan’s death Sunday, three days after he was kidnapped. Bibi called the rabbi’s death a “heinous antisemitic terrorist act” and vowed retribution.
Kogan’s determination to move to the UAE eventually won over his wife’s family, despite their reservations.
“Being who Zvi was, he was a larger-than-life character. He seemed to be invincible in many ways, like nothing can go wrong with him,” Speilman said. “He was on a mission and focused on why he was there.”
Kogan, a former Israel Defense Forces combat soldier, cut through outward appearances and made an effort to reach every Jew, Spielman said.
“He was more into what’s on the inside of a person,” said the rabbi, noting Kogan’s willingness to dress beyond the norms of the “Hasidic garb of a hat and jacket.
“He was able to connect to all different kinds of people – religious and secular.”
Kogan was also responsible for building the fabric of Judaism in the UAE, having introduced Kosher food to the area by opening up his own shop. While there, he also ran the activities of an Orthodox Jewish group called Chabad.
Chabad seeks to build links with non-affiliated and secular Jews or other sects of Judaism. The group’s branch in the UAE supports thousands of Jewish visitors and residents, according to its website.
Upon hearing the news from a congregant during Shabbat that his brother-in-law was kidnapped, Spielman said his “heart dropped.”
While his family carries “trauma” from the past, Speilman said they were still of the mindset to “always think good, and it will be good.”
They “hope for the best, but brace ourselves for the worst,” he said.
Jason Greenblatt, former White House Envoy to the Middle East under President Donald Trump’s first term, said in a statement to The Post, “The murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan is a tragedy.
“Jews and Jewish life are under attack all over the world. Even in countries as safe and welcoming as the UAE, even in Abu Dhabi, one of the safest cities in the world, evil can sometimes penetrate.
“I have full confidence that the Emiratis will work tirelessly to determine what happened and seek to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
