Family of slain Israel embassy staffer speaks out against activists supporting attack, says she was working for peace

The family of Sarah Milgrim, an Israeli embassy staffer who was gunned down in Washington, DC last month, speaks out against activists supporting the attack in the family’s first TV interview since Milgrim’s death.

Groups, including a faction of the Democratic Socialists of America and the extremist anti-Israel group Unity of Fields, have supported the alleged shooter, Elias Rodriguez.

Milgrim’s older brother, Jacob, tells CBS News, “There’s nothing more important in Judaism than life and the sanctity of life, and to what end is this fighting and sacrifice?”

“What does it accomplish taking my sister from me? It’s not going to accomplish anything,” he says.

Asked about activists supporting the shooter, Milgrim’s mother Nancy says, “I don’t know anything about that, but Sarah wasn’t against the Palestinians, she wasn’t against the people in Gaza.”

“She was in all her heart working towards finding a way for everyone for everyone to live together peacefully,” she says.

Milgrim was killed after leaving an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum, alongside her partner, Yaron Lischinsky. After the shooting, Rodriguez shouted, “Free Palestine,” according to authorities and video from the scene.

Lischinsky had bought Milgrim an engagement ring and was planning to propose to her during an upcoming trip to Jerusalem, Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, said after the shooting. Milgrim’s family found out about the planned proposal after her death.

“We saw their love blossom for each other and we knew how strong it was. We were hoping that they would be getting married,” Milgrim’s father, Robert Milgrim, tells CBS.

The family is planning to visit Israel in the fall, where they will meet Lischinsky’s family and visit his gravesite.

Milgrim graduated with a master’s degree in international affairs from American University in Washington and started working at the embassy soon after, in November 2023. She met Lischinsky through work.

The family is still processing her death, her father says.

“Right now, I’m hurt. I’m too hurt to say it’s anger or frustration and I don’t know what I’m going to feel later on,” her father says.

The report says Milgrim “fell in love with Israel” after holding her Bat Mitzvah in Jerusalem. She toured Israel another time while she was in college, and another time through a work-study program for Israelis and Palestinians called Tech2Peace.

“She’s not a tech person so she learned some things but really she was involved in the social immersion between bringing all the people together,” Nancy Milgrim says.

“She was the perfect child, we never argued about anything. She loved the environment, loved Mother Earth, loved people. She loved family, she loved her community,” her father says. “Usually, a parent tries to mold their child. Sarah molded us. She was a stronger person than I ever was.”