Entering Israeli diplomatic missions anywhere in the world is akin to boarding international flights: Metal detectors. Bag checks. Identifiable and plainclothes guards monitoring throughout. The security is second to none because it must be; since its inception, Israel has been the unenviable fixation of extremist groups and individuals the world over. Political figures and entities — from Iran to North Korea — have consistently found meaning in casting Israel as the villain, a ready patsy for their societies’ problems. And for decades, their acolytes have been all too willing to target Israel in word and deed, especially on one of its most vulnerable fronts — its overseas consulates and embassies.
I served for more than two years in Israel’s Consulate in New York and quickly became used to hurrying past belligerent protesters on the way to work, and to bomb drills at lunchtime and security warnings at day’s end to avoid public areas along my evening commute where mobs might gather, chanting for Israeli blood. During my tenure, protesters set fire to Israeli and American flags outside the consulate. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
What happened on Wednesday night in Washington was different. The horrific killing of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim — a beautiful couple about to get engaged — was devastating, but to those of us who’ve worked in Israel’s diplomatic missions, and to members of America’s Jewish communities, it was not a surprise.
The killings of these two members of the staff of the Israeli Embassy crossed a threshold that Israelis, Jews and concerned allies have been warning about for a long time. And now, two young souls have been taken from this world in an act of terror and cowardice.
On Wednesday, the American Jewish Committee, a prominent Jewish philanthropic and advocacy organization, held a reception at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. The event aimed to bring together “Jewish young professionals (22-45) and the D.C. diplomatic community for an evening dedicated to fostering unity and celebrating Jewish heritage,” and was attended by Jewish and non-Jewish envoys from various countries, among other guests. It was not an Israeli event, and certainly not an Israeli government one.
When the accused assailant targeted this Jewish communal gathering, he may not have even known his victims were members of the Israeli diplomatic corps. Yet he reportedly chanted, “Free, free Palestine” after shooting them in cold blood, and told the police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” apparently considering these killings a step forward for the Palestinian cause.
As the news broke, world leaders rightly offered statements of mourning and solidarity with the Jewish and Israeli communities during this difficult time. Some expressed “shock.”
And certainly, the deaths of these two young people were heartbreaking and shocking. But can anyone really say they couldn’t see this coming?
The massacre at the Jewish museum was eminently foreseeable after the wave of anti-Israel protests, encampments and social media screeds that swept America following the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, including the decisions by various anti-Israel groups to protest Israel outside gathering places such as synagogues and campus Hillel Jewish community centers.
For a year and a half, some within the pro-Palestine movement have signaled that the way to put political pressure on Israel is not merely to protest in front of Israeli Consulates and Embassies. Rather, it is to intimidate Jewish families going to Sabbath prayers and Jewish students going to get-togethers on campus. It has, in many instances, turned debate over the Israel-Hamas war into a pretext to denigrate Jews. I don’t think most pro-Palestinian demonstrators in America or around the world wished for two young diplomats to be brutally gunned down. But I also don’t think anyone can seriously say they didn’t realize that a tragedy like this could eventually take place.
Yaron and Sarah could have been me. They could have been any of us — my Jewish, non-Jewish, Israeli and American former colleagues. But even more so, they could have been any attendee at any Jewish community event.
So far, it’s been reported that the social media accounts of the suspect in these killings suggest that he was involved in pro-Palestinian activism. If that’s the case, then the shooting fits the definition of terrorism: violent acts designed to intimidate — to make entire national, religious and ethnic groups feel afraid. Afraid to get together; afraid even to leave their houses, in case they never make it back home to their loved ones. To bully Jews out of the public square.
There is a time and place for political protest — including, of course, both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian debate. But Jewish community events at Jewish museums or other venues don’t fit the bill.
And it’s time we realize that “anti-Zionist” rhetoric can inspire deadly consequences.
Naftali Shavelson was the media director at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.
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