Rabbi ZVI KOGAN
Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, recently pledged that he and his wife, Ivanka Trump, would donate $1 million to Chabad of the United Arab Emirates in the wake of the killing of Rabbi Zvi Kogan. Kushner, who was one of the architects of the 2020 Abraham Accords that established relations between Israel and the UAE, said the Emirates is committed to fostering harmony between Jews and Muslims.
“In the UAE, people of all faiths and backgrounds thrive together in an environment of mutual understanding and respect,” Kushner wrote. “Ivanka and I will be donating $1 million to the Chabad of UAE and will redouble our efforts to work with the Jewish community and the country’s leadership to build a resilient, vibrant Jewish community in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.”
“To all who wish to aggravate these historic divides, know that your efforts only strengthen the resolve of the Jewish community to contribute to societies that respect and welcome us,” he added. “History has shown that those who embrace the Jewish people benefit, and those who persecute the Jewish people ultimately face spectacular defeat.”
Kushner’s brother Joshua almost immediately after announced that he and his wife, the fashion model Karlie Kloss, would match Jared and Ivanka’s $1 million pledge.
The Emirati police have arrested three Uzbek nationals suspected of kidnapping murdering Kogan, 28, a Moldovan-Israeli dual national living in Dubai as an emissary of Chabad. He also managed a kosher supermarket, Rimon as part of his efforts to expand Jewish life there.
Kogan was reported as missing on Thursday, Nov. 21, and his body was discovered in the Emirati city of Al Ain near the UAE-Oman border that Sunday. His burial began Nov. 25 at 770 in the Chabad-Lubavitch town of Kfar Chabad and proceeded to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
The three alleged killers fled to Turkey and were arrested there and extradited back to the UAE.
Iran has denied any involvement in the incident amid suspicion that the Islamic Republic might have orchestrated the killing.
A fund for Kogan’s widow Rivky seeks to raise money.
Some Of Many Comments
Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, wrote on X that “we appreciate the actions of UAE authorities to hold accountable those who planned and carried out this heinous act. The ongoing targeting of Jewish communities worldwide is abhorrent and must stop.”
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) described feeling “shocked and outraged” by news of Kogan’s murder. “I wholly condemn this terrorist act against an innocent civilian. The increasing anti-semitism we are seeing around the world is unacceptable, Jews should be safe everywhere,” he wrote on X.
“I am absolutely devastated to learn about the barbaric and senseless murder of Chabad shaliach Rabbi Zvi Kogan,” said Eric Adams, mayor of New York City. “Our hearts and prayers are with his wife—a native New Yorker—his entire family and the Jewish community who is grieving right now.”
Adams said the incident “is yet another jarring reminder of how it is dangerous to simply be Jewish in many parts of the world,” adding that “New York City will never be one of those places.”
Kathy Hochul, governor of New York, wrote that she was “horrified by the abduction and murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan. My heart is with his family and the Jewish community. May his memory be a blessing.” She noted that “this heinous act of anti-semitism is a painful reminder that we must continue to fight it wherever it rears its ugly head.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) called himself “shaken by the news of the anti-Semitic abduction and murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who was kidnapped and killed simply for being Jewish.” The vocal pro-Israel congressman critiqued a New York Times article reporting on the murder.
“Contrary to The New York Times, Rabbi Zvi Kogan did not just ‘disappear’ in Dubai. He was abducted and murdered because he was a Jew,” Torres wrote. “The media should call the kidnapping and killing of Rabbi Kogan exactly what it is: an act of anti-Semitic terror.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote, “I am deeply disturbed by the news of the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan. This is an unspeakable act of violent anti-Semitism. My prayers are with his family, and the entire Lubavitch and Chabad community in Brooklyn, and across the world. May his memory be a blessing.”
