Pain, anger for US Jews at killings of Israel Embassy staffers, amid ‘a relentless campaign of hate’

The American Jewish community reacted with a mix of a mix of pain, anger, and shock after the killing of two Israeli Embassy staff members outside a Jewish museum in Washington, DC late Wednesday night.

Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim were gunned down after leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum put on by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) for young diplomats. The couple was set to travel next week to Jerusalem to get engaged and Lischinsky had recently purchased a ring, according to Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter.

Police said the suspect, Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested.

The attack was the latest in a relentless trend of growing antisemitism around the US since Hamas launched its war against Israel with a savage assault on October 7, 2023. A record 9,354 antisemitic cases of harassment, vandalism, and assault were recorded in the US in 2024, translating to more than one every hour, the Anti-Defamation League recently reported.

Following the shooting, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt spoke out defiantly, saying the Jewish community would not be cowed or silenced.

“This shooting strikes a nerve because it comes after an unrelenting, ongoing campaign of hate and harassment targeting the Jewish community simply because of who we are and what we believe,” he wrote on X.

“What they fail to grasp is that we will not be intimidated,” he continued. “We will not be silenced. We will not cower or quiver or shake. Without a doubt, we will mourn and we will grieve and then we will press on with renewed determination and resolve. We will fight for our rights. We will defend our beliefs. We will protect our community, now and forever.”

Other major organizations expressed horror and grief over the attack.

“We are devastated that two cherished friends and partners from the Israeli embassy were shot and killed as they left an AJC event at the Capital Jewish Museum earlier this evening,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “This is a shocking act of violence, and our community is holding each other tighter tonight.”

“At this painful moment, we mourn with the victims’ families, loved ones, and all of Israel. May their memories be for a blessing,” Deutch said.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Federations of North America said it was “horrified” by the murder, and was working closely with security partners in the area to monitor the situation and keep Jewish communities informed.

“The safety and security of the community is our top priority, and we will not rest until that safety is fully restored,” the organization said.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder called Lischinsky and Milgrim “two individuals who dedicated their lives to building bridges between people and communities, rather than walls.”

He said that while the attack was meant to cause Jews to tremble with fear, “Let there be no mistake — this act of terror will not drive us into the shadows. We will not hide our faces or our symbols. We will live openly and proudly, as a courageous people.

B’nai B’rith President Robert Spitzer and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin called the attack “morally depraved and hateful.” The event where the shooter opened fire was about interfaith collaboration, and attendees were focused on helping in humanitarian crises around the world, they noted in a statement.

Doron Almog, chairman of the Jewish Agency, referred to the victims as “individuals of deep conviction, standing at the forefront of Israeli diplomacy out of a profound sense of mission and love for their people.

“Their murder is a devastating loss for their families, their community, and our entire nation,” Almog said. “Out of this profound pain, we remain resolute in our mission to strengthen the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”

‘Globalize the Intifada’

Several organizations focused on fighting antisemitism issued stronger condemnations.

“This murder didn’t happen in a vacuum, but is the direct result of the incessant hatred by those who call to ‘Globalize the Intifada.’ For those who wondered about the context of whether a particular chant was hate speech or antisemitic, this is what it looks like when physically manifested,” the Combat Antisemitism Movement said in a statement. “We have warned about the growing violence of the far-left, and now it seems that our deepest fears have come true.”

Calls to globalize the intifada have been a frequent refrain at anti-Israel rallies across US campuses. The chants referred to periods of deadly Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli civilians in the late 1980s and early 1990s and again in the early 2000s, including widespread suicide bombings, in which over a thousand Israelis were killed.

The far-right Betar US movement called on the US to respond to the attack by deporting illegal pro-Hamas agitators around the US, a move US President Donald Trump has floated and a cause Betar US has been aggressively promoting.

“Sadly, as we mourn this loss, we remind Jews that Aliyah [immigrating to Israel] is the best solution,” Betar added.

Both victims were outspoken advocates for peacebuilding, interfaith dialogue, and intercultural understanding in the Middle East.

Lischinky, 28, was a research assistant for Middle East & North African Affairs at the Israeli Embassy’s Political Department in Washington, DC. He moved to Israel from Germany at the age of 16. He moved to the US in September 2022 to work at the embassy.

Milgrim, a US native, worked in the public diplomacy department at the embassy and held a master’s degree in international studies from American University and an additional master’s degree in natural resources and sustainable development from the United Nations University of Peace.

The museum is working to reopen in the coming days, with all necessary security in place, it said.