The murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan, H’yd has left the Jewish kehilla in the Emirates shaken.

UK’s Guardian reported that Rimon Market, the small kosher supermarket managed by Rabbi Kogan, H’yd, in Dubai was closed on Sunday. The store had suffered online harassment from Palestinians over the past year.

An Associated Press journalist who visited the site on Sunday said that the mezuzahs on the front and back doors of the supermarket appeared to have been ripped off.

The Israeli and Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates began operating openly in 2020, when the UAE became the first Arab country in 30 years to establish official relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, brokered by the US during the Trump administration.

The UAE has maintained stable diplomatic ties with Israel during the 13 months of the war in Gaza. However, Israelis and Jews in the UAE lowered their public profile in the wake of the worldwide antisemitic and anti-Israel protests that erupted following the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel.

Community members told Reuters that unofficial shuls in Dubai were closed after October 7 due to security concerns, with Jews davening at home instead. There are no official shuls in Dubai, the largest city and commercial center of the UAE, with the only official shul in the country in the capital city of Abu Dhabi.

There are no official statistics on the number of Jews or Israelis living in the UAE. However, according to Reuters, Jewish groups estimate there are several thousand Jews in the country.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)