Senior officials in the United Arab Emirates attended the shiva, or traditional seven-day period of mourning, for Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, who was murdered last week by Iranian agents who kidnapped him from the capital of Abu Dhabi.
Kogan’s murder was confirmed after he went missing on November 21. Three Iranian agents, apparently from Uzbekistan, kidnapped him and drove him out of town before murdering him and attempting to flee the country.
They were arrested in Turkey, despite the fact that Turkey has provided safe haven to other Islamic, antisemitic terrorists, including the remaining leaders of the Palestinian Hamas terrorist organization and their families.
The Times of Israel notes that Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaim of the UAE’s Federal Supreme Council traveled to Israel to pay respects to the mourners in Kogan’s home town of Kfar Chabad, where he was buried earlier this week.
Traditionally, bereaved Jewish families observe the shiva, a seven-day period in which mourners do not leave home except for the funeral ceremony. They sit on low chairs, wear torn clothes, and observe other signs of mourning. Visitors come, often bearing food, to comfort the family, to deal with household tasks, and to participate in thrice-daily prayers, ensuring that a quorum of ten men is present for the recitation of Kaddish, the memorial prayer.
The UAE is a core partner of the Abraham Accords with Israel, and has maintained close ties with the Jewish state, despite the ongoing war between Israel and terrorist groups on its borders, including Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.