U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the kidnapping and murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in the United Arab Emirates, in a call with Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Emirati foreign minister, according to a U.S. readout of the call on Monday.
The secretary “commended the swift actions taken by the UAE’s law enforcement authorities in response to the murder,” stated Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman, and “expressed appreciation for the UAE’s close security cooperation with the United States and other partners in the region, as well as its long-standing tradition of and commitment to tolerance and freedom of worship.”
The two officials also “discussed ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza, secure the release of all hostages and establish governance, security and reconstruction in a post-conflict period,” per Miller.
U.S. President Joe Biden has not issued a statement about the killing of the Chabad rabbi, although the White House National Security Council put out a short statement, in which it denounced the murder in the “strongest terms.”
