Türkiye nabs Israeli rabbi's murder suspects in Istanbul

ANKARA

Turkish authorities have apprehended three main suspects in the murder of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi in Dubai as they fled to Istanbul, according to security sources.

Tzvi Kogan, a 28-year-old United Arab Emirates-based rabbi, was found dead last week, following what Israel's prime minister called "an abhorrent anti-Semitic terrorist attack.”

Investigating the death of Kogan, who had managed a kosher supermarket in Dubai since 2020, Emirati officials identified three Uzbek nationals as suspects.

Following the revelation that the suspects fled to Türkiye, Emirati authorities sought assistance from Turkish counterparts, according to a statement by Turkish security sources on Nov. 26.

The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) pinpointed the suspects' arrival aboard a flight bound for Istanbul. In coordination with the police, MİT tracked a taxi carrying the fugitives.

During a traffic checkpoint operation, Alimbay Tahirovich, 28, Mahmudjan Abdurrahim, 28, and Azizbek Kamilovich, 33, were apprehended.

Türkiye subsequently extradited the suspects to the UAE, the sources said.

The UAE Foreign Ministry expressed gratitude to Türkiye for its cooperation in the capture of the suspects.

Neither Emirati nor Israeli officials have provided any details about the circumstances of Kogan's murder.

The rabbi was buried around at the Mount of Olives in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Following the murder, Israel renewed a warning for Israelis to avoid any non-essential travel to the UAE and advised citizens already there to take extra precautions.

There is no figure for the number of Jews in the UAE, but an Israeli official has told the media that there were about 2,000 Israelis in the Gulf country, with the Jewish community estimated to be up to twice that figure.