Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed on Wednesday evening outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.
The male victim was identified as Yaron Lischinsky. His final post on social media was a repost of a message condemning the United Nations’ false claim that 14,000 infants in Gaza were facing imminent starvation, labeling it a modern-day blood libel.
The female victim was named as Sarah Milgrim.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter revealed that the victims were a couple who were about to be engaged. Lischinsky had recently purchased an engagement ring and planned to propose next week in Jerusalem.
“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,” the Israeli embassy wrote on X. “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. Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will be by their side during this terrible time.”
Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives.
This evening, a terrorist shot and killed them as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC.
The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words… pic.twitter.com/2HytKDp8Fr
— Embassy of Israel to the USA (@IsraelinUSA) May 22, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers a “heinous antisemitic murder.”
Netanyahu attributed the attack to “blood libels against Israel,” suggesting that incitement and false accusations against the Jewish state had fueled the violence.
According to a statement from his office, Netanyahu spoke with Leiter and received “an immediate update on the details of the incident,” while also expressing his support for the envoy and the embassy staff.
In his remarks, the prime minister stated:
“We are witnessing the horrific price of antisemitism and the rampant incitement against the State of Israel. Blood libels against Israel result in spilled blood, and they must be fought with all our might.
“My heart aches for the families of the beloved young man and woman whose lives were abruptly cut short by a vile antisemitic murderer.
“I have instructed to reinforce security arrangements at Israeli missions around the world and to increase protection for our representatives.”
The prime minister also spoke with US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who “detailed everything currently known about the identity of the murderer and the two embassy staff members who were killed.”
According to the statement, Bondi told Netanyahu that she was “deeply sorry,” and that “President Donald Trump is personally involved in managing the response to the incident.” She assured the prime minister that “the United States will ensure the murderer is brought to justice” and conveyed her condolences “to the families of the young couple who were soon to be engaged.”
Netanyahu thanked both Bondi and Trump “for their clear stance against antisemitism.”
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said: “I am shocked and heartbroken by the brutal murder of two members of the Israeli delegation in an antisemitic shooting attack in the heart of Washington, D.C. My thoughts are with the families of the victims, the embassy staff, and the entire people of Israel at this painful hour.”
Noting that the shooter, Elias Rodriguez (30), had shouted “Free Palestine,” Chikli said that it now been “proven in blood” the slogan was a call to violence.
Two Israeli Embassy staffers were ass*ssinated outside the Jewish Museum in Washington DC
This is the terrorist Elias Rodriguez, who shot and killed a Jewish couple outside the Jewish museum in DC.
‘Free Palestine’ can now OFFICIALLY be considered a terrorist chant. pic.twitter.com/0AN89lzKuy
— Sumit (@SumitHansd) May 22, 2025
“This slogan, parroted by activists, academics, and influencers, has become a banner not for peace but for hatred, violence, and the demonization of the Jewish state. Anyone who uses it now, in the wake of this attack, is not just echoing antisemitism—they are legitimizing the murder of Jews and Israelis,” stressed Chikli.
He singled out French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, stating that each had, in various ways, “emboldened the forces of terror through their failure to draw moral red lines.”
Such “cowardice” had a price, he continued, “and that price is paid in Jewish blood.”
See: France, Great Britain, and Canada threaten Israel with sanctions
“We will continue to fight antisemitism everywhere – with clarity, courage, and zero tolerance,” he added.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the murders an example of what the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” means in practice. “The horrific double murder in Washington DC was an act of antisemitic terrorism and a direct result of the incitement we’ve seen at protests across the world,” he said. “This is what they always meant by ‘Globalize the Intifada.’ My thoughts and prayers are with all the staff of Israel’s embassy in the USA and with the families of the victims.”
Israel’s opposition National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz stated: “I am heartbroken and horrified at the vile antisemitic murder of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington D.C this morning. What starts as ‘globalize the intifada’ on college campuses not surprisingly ends in cowardly murder shouting ‘free Palestine’ on the streets.”
He extended his condolences to the victims’ families, and said his thoughts were with Jewish communities in the United States, and with the American people.
“Israel and the United States will stand together stronger than ever, and overcome, this evil,” he concluded.
US President Donald Trump extended condolences to the victims. “These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” he wrote on Truth Social. “Hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!”
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that authorities were “actively investigating and working to get more information to share. “We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice,” she added.
The shooting occurred around 9:15 p.m. near the intersection of 3rd and F Streets NW, in front of the museum and just behind the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the US Attorney’s Office.
Israeli embassy spokesperson Tal Naim Cohen wrote on X that the victims had been shot “at close range.”
“We have full faith in law-enforcement authorities on both the local and federal levels to apprehend the shooter and protect Israel’s representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States,” said Cohen.
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