Two Israeli diplomats about to become engaged gunned down in Washington
Two Israeli embassy staff members were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC on Wednesday night in what Israeli and U.S. officials are calling a targeted act of antisemitic violence.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgram Pic: Israeli Embassy in Washington/TPS-IL
According to Tal Naim Cohen, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy, the two staffers were a young couple about to become engaged. They were “shot at close range” while leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum.
Tal posted on X:
Yaron and Sarah,
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.
Instead of walking you down the aisle, we are walking with you to your graves.
What an unbearable loss 💔💔
Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli identified one of the victims in last night’s shooting attack as Yaron Lischinsky. The 28-year-old Lischinsky worked in the political department of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Social media posts showed him photographed with his fiancee, Sarah Milgram, who also worked at the embassy.
According to reports, Lischinsky planned to propose to Milgram in the coming days.
“We are devastated,” Cohen said. “This was a horrifying attack on individuals who came to celebrate their heritage and community.”
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the deaths in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
“We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share,” Noem wrote. “We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.”
Washington, DC, Police Chief Pamela Smith provided further details during a press conference late Wednesday. “Despite all life-saving efforts, both victims succumbed to their injuries,” Smith said. “The attack occurred as the victims were exiting the museum. A suspect had been seen pacing outside shortly beforehand.”
Smith identified the shooter as 30-year-old Elias Rodriquez of Chicago, Illinois. “The suspect opened fire on a group of four, killing a man and a woman. While in custody, he chanted, ‘Free, free Palestine.’”
🚨 Breaking: Two Israeli Embassy staffers were fatally shot outside the Jewish Museum in Washington D.C.
Footage shows the suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, being taken into custody.
He shouted “Free Palestine” after his arrest.Meanwhile, Israel has shot… pic.twitter.com/5XKJZLL2fr
— Truth Troll Official™️ (@truthtroll_X) May 22, 2025
AAP reports:
“Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum when they heard gunshots and a man came inside looking distressed, they said.
Kalin said people went to his aid and brought him water, thinking he needed help, without realising he was the suspect.
When police arrived, he pulled out a red keffiyeh and repeatedly yelled, “Free Palestine’,” Kalin said.
“This event was about humanitarian aid,” he said.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said the male victim had recently purchased an engagement ring and was planning to propose next week in Jerusalem. “The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of ‘Free Palestine’ was a couple about to be engaged,” Leiter said.
U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the killings in a Truth Social post, calling them “horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism.” He added: “Hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA.”
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon also denounced the attack as “a depraved act of antisemitic terrorism.”
“Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” Danon said. “We are confident U.S. authorities will act decisively.”
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said: “I am devastated by the scenes in Washington DC.
This is a despicable act of hatred, of antisemitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy.
Our hearts are with the loved ones of those murdered and our immediate prayers are with the injured. I send my full support to the Ambassador and all the embassy staff. We stand with the Jewish community in DC and across the US.
America and Israel will stand united in defence of our people and our shared values. Terror and hate will not break us.”
In Hebrew, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are witnesses to the terrible cost of the antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel. Blood libels against Israel have a cost in blood and must be fought to the utmost.
My heart grieves for the families of the young beloveds, whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer.
I have directed that security be increased at Israeli missions around the world and for the state’s representatives.”
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, posted on X: “Horrified by the terror attack in Washington D.C. that took the lives of two of our Embassy staff. Our hearts go out to their families. This brutal act is a reminder that Israeli diplomats- and Jews- face real threats, even far from home.”
The Zionist Federation of Australia says this appalling act of violence has shocked Jewish communities across the world, including here in Australia.
President Jeremy Leibler, commented: “Jewish community spaces, like the one targeted in Washington DC, are vital centres of Jewish identity, education, and remembrance. In Australia, many members of our community regularly attend events in these spaces, and the fact that such a location would be the site of a targeted killing underscores the grave and escalating threats facing Jewish communities globally.”
Alon Cassuto, CEO of the ZFA, said: “these brutal murders did not occur in a vacuum. For 18 months, we have witnessed a sustained campaign of incitement, demonisation, and dehumanisation directed at the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Unchecked rhetoric that promotes hatred and violence has real-world consequences; when a nation and their people are relentlessly vilified, not only does violence become imaginable, but inevitable.”
The president of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, said: “A Jewish communal event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, a close partner of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was taking place inside the building at the time of the attack.
Our deepest sympathies are with the families of the dead, with the Israeli diplomatic corps and the American Jewish community. We hope justice is swift and decisive.
This senseless, brutal and targeted attack again shows us the danger posed to us all by the incitement and violence of the pro-Palestinian movement. The ECAJ has been in touch with the Australian Federal Police this afternoon and reminds the community to remain vigilant.”
Dr Colin Rubenstein is the executive director of The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. He stated: “This appalling act of terrorism is a direct outcome of the hatred we’ve witnessed in the streets of the US, Australia and around the world. When people in those hate-filled marches chant ‘globalise the intifada’, this is what they mean.”
Dr Rubenstein continued, “Condemnation of terrorism after the fact isn’t good enough; we implore our political leaders to condemn the chants of hatred before they become acts of violent hatred. The Australian Jewish community is rightly worried for our security. If this act could happen on the streets of the American capital, it could happen in Australia.”
Dr Rubenstein concluded, “AIJAC has been a long-standing partner of the American Jewish Committee, at whose event this murder took place. We stand with the AJC and the American Jewish community, and offer our deep sympathy to the families of the young couple who were murdered. May their memories be a blessing.”
From Israel, International March of the Living President, Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, added: “Unfortunately, however, we are not surprised, as we have witnessed antisemitism raising its ugly head to levels we have not seen for generations in America. Universities have been overrun, synagogues and Jewish schools attacked and Jewish men, women and students abused in their everyday lives in their cities and on their college campuses. The warning signs have been there – the silence has been universally deafening. And now the results are here for all to see.
With J-Wire
