Zvi Kogan, relative of the murdered Israeli rabbi, said they warned him not to move to the UAE

The grieving relative of Dubai terror victim Rabbi Zvi Kogan said on Sunday: always thought he was “invincible”Even if they remember warning him not to move there because of its tragic ties to a past terrorist act.

The aunt and uncle of the murdered 28-year-old rabbi’s widow were killed in a terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008.

“It’s like reopening old wounds,” Rabbi Aharon Spielman, brother of Kogan’s widow Rivky, told The Post.

“My mother had reservations, especially about her brother being killed in Mumbai,” Spielman said of her younger sister and her husband Kogan’s move to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates after they marry in 2022.

Rivky’s uncle, Gavriel Holtzberg, and his wife, Rivka, were killed during terrorist attacks in India in 2008, Spielman said. Brutal attacks and bombings by Islamist militants over four days in November targeted luxury hotels, a Jewish cultural center and other crowded venues, killing 175 people.

Spielman said Kogan’s murder was “clearly antisemitic” in the UAE, which is considered one of the safest countries in the world.

At least one Israeli official blamed Iran for the rabbi’s killing.

The UAE said on Sunday that three suspects had been arrested in connection with Kogan’s murder, but did not provide details.

“He was targeted because he was Jewish. Not only was he a Jew, he was someone who proudly raised the Jewish flag,” Spielman said of Kogan, who worked for Chabad, the group that spreads the Orthodox Jewish faith.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned Kogan’s death on Sunday, three days after his kidnapping. Bibi called the rabbi’s death a “heinous act of anti-Semitic terrorism” and vowed revenge.

Kogan’s determination to move to the UAE eventually won over his wife’s family, despite their reservations.

“Zvi was an extraordinary character as himself. He seemed invincible in so many ways, like nothing could go wrong,” Speilman said. “He was on a mission and focused on why he was there.”

Spielman said Kogan, a former combat soldier of the Israel Defense Forces, did not care about appearances and made an effort to reach every Jew.

“He was more interested in what was inside a person,” the rabbi said, noting Kogan’s willingness to dress beyond the norms of “Hasidic hat and coat attire.”

“He was able to connect with all kinds of people, religious and secular.”

Kogan was also responsible for building the fabric of Judaism in the UAE and introduced Kosher food to the region by opening his own store. While there, he also carried out the activities of an Orthodox Jewish group called Chabad.

Chabad seeks to establish connections with unaffiliated and secular Jews or other denominations of Judaism. The group’s branch in the UAE supports thousands of Jewish visitors and residents, according to its website.

Hearing the news that his brother-in-law had been kidnapped from a congregation during Shabbat, Spielman said his “heart dropped.”

While his family carries “trauma” from the past, Speilman said they still have the mentality of “always think about the good and he’ll be okay.”

“They’re hoping for the best, but they’re also preparing for the worst,” he said.

Jason Greenblatt, the former White House Middle East envoy during President Donald Trump’s first term, said in a statement to The Post: “The killing of Rabbi Zvi Kogan is a tragedy.

“Jews and Jewish life are under attack all over the world. Even in safe and hospitable countries like the UAE, evil can sometimes penetrate, even in Abu Dhabi, one of the safest cities in the world.

“I have full confidence that the Emiratis will work tirelessly to determine what happened and bring the perpetrators to justice.”