The two Israeli Embassy staffers who were gunned down by a pro-Palestinian gunman outside the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday night have been identified as a couple that was set to be engaged.
Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim were fatally shot in the street as they left the American Jewish Committee’s ACCESS Young Diplomats Reception just after 9 p.m. in Washington, DC.
“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,” the Embassy of Israel to the USA wrote on X.
“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 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.”
Lischinsky planned to propose to Milgrim during a trip next week in Jerusalem, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said before their identities were made public.
He bought the ring this week, Leiter added.
The couple both worked out of the Israeli Embassy in DC.
Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, served as a research assistant in the embassy’s Political Department since September 2022 after serving three years in the Israel Defense Forces, according to his LinkedIn.
Milgrim, a Jewish-American who earned degrees from the University of Kansas and American University, had worked in the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy since November 2023, her online profile stated.
She was tasked with organizing missions and visits to Israel.
Wednesday’s occasion was the AJC’s largest annual event that brought together Jewish young professionals between the ages of 22 and 45, and diplomatic community, according to the event listing.
The theme of the sold-out reception was “turning pain into purpose” and would focus on humanitarian diplomacy and navigating a response to the humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa.
The couple had just left the venue on 575 3rd St NW, near the FBI field office and the US attorney’s office.
They were killed when suspected gunman Elias Rodriguez opened fire on a group of four people outside the museum.
Rodriguez, a 31-year-old Chicago resident, was observed pacing outside the museum until he approached the young couple and two others and began shooting his handgun, DC Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
The suspect then ditched the gun and ran inside the museum, where he admitted to the shooting, Smith added.
Rodriguez was detained inside the building and shouted “Free, Free Palestine,” during his arrest.
Lischinsky and Milgrim attended an Israeli Independence Day celebration at the Israeli Embassy less than two weeks before they were killed.
“We are deeply grateful for the historic alliance with our steadfast partner, the United States and the great American people, who have stood by our side. I look forward to working with this administration to bring about more security, freedom and peace.” Lischinsky wrote in a post to X, alongside a photo of the smiling couple.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was left outraged by the “horrifying antisemitic murder.”
“We are witness 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,” Netanyahu said Thursday morning. “”My heart grieves for the families of the young beloveds, whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer.”
Netanyahu called for increased security for Israeli embassies and diplomats around the world following the shooting.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says he spoke with Lischinsky’s father, telling him his son “was a warrior on our diplomatic front that fell just like a soldier on the battlefield,” according to CNN.
“I have been worried for the past few months that something like this would happen and it did, and the list of fallen foreign service members has grown today,”
Wednesday’s shooting was a “toxic antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world,” Sa’ar added.
President Donald Trump condemned the attack, saying it was done out of hate and radicalism.
“These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!” he said.
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