2 Israeli embassy staffers shot to death at DC Jewish museum event

By Ben Sales and Phyllis Cranmer

(JTA) — The two Israeli embassy staffers who were shot to death outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21 have been identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.

“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,” the Embassy of Israel in the United States posted on social media. “The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss.”

The embassy shared a photo of the couple together that Lischinsky had posted on Twitter earlier in the month. It appeared to have been taken during an event at the embassy to mark Israel’s 77th Independence Day.

The couple both said they were working toward peace in the Middle East.

Lischinsky was a German immigrant to Israel who served in the Israeli army before studying international relations and diplomacy at multiple Israeli universities, according to his LinkedIn profile. He had worked at Israel’s embassy to the United States since September 2022 and was currently a research assistant focusing on Middle East and North African affairs, according to the profile.

“I’m an ardent believer in the vision that was outlined in the Abraham Accords and believe that expanding the circle of peace with our Arab neighbors and pursuing regional cooperation is in the best interest of the State of Israel and the Middle East as a whole,” Lischinsky wrote on LinkedIn. “To this end, I advocate for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding.”

Lischinsky was a Christian whose support for Israel was entwined with his religious identity, according to his own social media posts and that of a friend after his death. (He said on his LinkedIn page that he made aliyah, or immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return, at 16; aliyah is open to Jews and the children and grandchildren of Jews who do not subscribe to religions other than Judaism.) “Israel is the only place in the ME where Christians can thrive,” he tweeted in 2021. “Not perfect, but livable (speaking as a Christian myself).”

Milgrim graduated from the University of Kansas in 2021 and earned two master’s degrees, in international affairs from American University and from the United Nations’ University for Peace, before beginning a role in the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy in 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“My passion lies at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work,” she wrote on LinkedIn, noting research that she had conducted research on behalf of a nonprofit, Tech2Peace, that trains Palestinians and Israelis to work together in the tech sector.

Milgrim grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, where her family has been affiliated with Reform synagogues, and was a teenager when a white supremacist shot and killed three people at Jewish institutions in that city. In her senior year of high school, she was active in responding after swastikas were painted at her high school. “I worry about going to my synagogue and now I have to worry about safety at my school and that shouldn’t be a thing,” she told a local news station at the time.

The couple was on the verge of becoming engaged and a proposal had been planned for next week in Jerusalem, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said at a press conference after the shooting. “They were a beautiful couple,” he said.

“Words cannot begin to describe the heartbreak and sorrow. Just this morning, we were still laughing together by the coffee corner — and now, all that remains is a picture,” tweeted Tal Naim, the spokesperson for the embassy. “Instead of walking you down the aisle, we are walking with you to your graves. What an unbearable loss.”

The shooting took place after 9 p.m. on May21. Police are questioning a suspect they identified as Elias Rodriguez, who they believe was solely responsible. Rodriguez, 30 and a resident of Chicago, approached a group of people and fired shots, according to police. He then entered the museum, where he was detained.

Rodriguez chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” after being detained, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a press conference. Video from inside the museum showed a handcuffed man shouting the chant while being led away.

Smith said there was no intelligence ahead of the event indicating that there would be an attack. She also said Rodriguez was unknown to D.C. police. The FBI is investigating whether the shooting is a hate crime and an act of terrorism.

The event was held by the American Jewish Committee, which had advertised a cocktail event for young Jewish professionals and diplomats on Wednesday. Its website said the location would be provided to those who registered, a practice that many Jewish groups have adopted at a time of high alert, including over the threat of protests against the war Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.

“We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement. “At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.”

The shooting comes amid reports of surging antisemitism following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that initiated the war in Gaza. American Jewish leaders and Israeli officials connected the shooting to that surge.

“People who think that they’re going to address whatever issues they have about Israel through violent behavior directed at Jewish audiences, Jewish people — this is just pure antisemitism,” Eric Fingerhut, the president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America, said in an interview.

“There’s no question that especially since Oct. 7, the outrageous anti-Israel activities that have occurred across this country have contributed to an incitement of antisemitic violence,” Fingerhut added. “This is clearly evidence of it.”

The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, called the shooting “a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism” in a statement.

“Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” he said. “We are confident that the U.S. authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act. Israel will continue to act resolutely to protect its citizens and representatives – everywhere in the world.”

The shooting represents the first fatal attack at an American Jewish institution in several years. The worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history occurred in 2018, when a gunman killed 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue. The following year saw three more fatal attacks on a synagogue in California, a kosher supermarket in New Jersey and a rabbi’s house in New York.

Since then, and including over the last 19 months since Oct. 7 and the start of the war in Gaza, Jewish institutions have bolstered their security. The Capital Jewish Museum, which opened in 2023, had just gotten a security grant from Washington, D.C. this week. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city would consult with local Jewish institutions to ensure that they are safe after the shooting.

Attorney General Pam Bondi tweeted that she was “on the scene of the horrible shooting” along with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. The Trump administration has called fighting antisemitism a top priority.

“We’ll be doing everything in our power to keep all citizens safe, especially tonight our Jewish community,” Bondi said at the press conference. “We will follow the facts, we will follow the law and this defendant, if charged, will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Fingerhut said his organization would also continue to find ways to strengthen security. “The security of the Jewish community has been and remains the top priority of the Jewish federation system,” he said. “The risks have continued to rise as antisemitism has risen and as anti-Israel behavior in America has risen and our security teams have worked so hard to keep up with that. They obviously didn’t succeed tonight but we will not stop until we’ve ensured the security of our community.”