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The New York Times appeared to subtly change a headline about the abduction and murder of an Abu Dhabi rabbi after garnering intense backlash on social media over the weekend.
Israel confirmed the death of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, 28, who was living in the United Arab Emirates before his wife reported him missing last Thursday. His body was discovered on Sunday morning, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on X. Kogan, a citizen of both Moldova and Israel, relocated with his family to Dubai in 2022 to lead the Jewish community there. Israel said it had been given information "indicating that this is a terrorist incident," calling the murder "an abhorrent act of antisemitic terrorism" in a statement.
The New York Times first covered Kogan's death with the headline, "Israeli rabbi who disappeared in Dubai is found dead." Online critics immediately pounced on the outlet for seeming to downplay the kidnapping and terrorist element involved in Kogan's death. The Times later updated its headline to read, "An Israeli Rabbi Is Abducted and Killed in the U.A.E.," but not before social media took them to task for their initial reporting.
Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad emissary, was reported dead after he went missing last week. (Chabad.org via X)
"Rabbi Kogan was not 'found dead', he was murdered," former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrote on X. "There is a disturbing pattern whereby some in the media — and particularly the @nytimes— downplay antisemitic acts. It must be called out and addressed."
"Contrary to the NY Times, Rabbi Zvi Kogan did not just ‘disappear’ in Dubai," Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., commented. "He was abducted and murdered because he was a Jew. The media should call the kidnapping and killing of Rabbi Kogan exactly what it is: an act of antisemitic terror."
"Excuse me @nytimes, the rabbi didn’t "disappear." He was abducted and then killed. He was targeted & killed because he was Jewish. It was an act of terrorism. Be better than this New York Times," former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh said.
"The NYT thinks a Rabbi being murdered was some sort of magic trick," Jewish student activist Eyal Yakoby replied.
Israeli policy expert Aviva Klompas weighed in, "Not "disappeared" and not "found dead" @nytimes Rabbi Kogan was murdered simply for being a Jew."
The United Arab Emirates announced that three suspects were arrested in connection with Kogan's murder and vowed to use "all available legal powers to deal severely and without leniency with anyone who dares to take any actions or acts that seek to destabilize society or threaten its security."
In a statement, Israel said it also plans to "use all means and will deal with the criminals responsible for his [Kogan's] death to the fullest extent of the law."
Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Hasidic Judaism based in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City.
The Rimon Market, Dubai's only Kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on the busy Al Wasl Road, was shut Sunday, according to the Associated Press. It had been a target of anti-Israel protests.
A man walks past Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store managed by the late Rabbi Zvi Kogan, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
His wife, Rivky, is a U.S. citizen from New York who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed along with his wife Rivka in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
"As with many breaking news events, this was a story we updated as additional details emerged," a Times spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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