BURSTIsraeli President Isaac Herzog said early Thursday morning that the country remains united with the families of slain embassy staffers.
Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were fatally shot outside the American Jewish Committee’s annual Young Diplomats Reception in Washington by a male suspect who shouted “free Palestine” after opening fire.
“Yaron and Sarah, two beautiful souls just beginning their lives together, about to get engaged. Israel stands united with their families, our diplomats abroad, and the Jewish community across the US,” Herzog said on Thursday morning.
The Israeli leader met both Milgrim and Lischinsky during his most recent trip to the U.S.
“We in Israel stand with the Jewish community in Washington and throughout the United States, and I would like to send comfort and strength to the entire embassy staff,” Herzog wrote in a separate Thursday post on the social media platform X.
“America and Israel will always stand united in defending our peoples and our shared values. We will not allow terror and hatred to break us,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the act of violence and said the country will beef up security globally for its missions and envoys.
“We are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel. The blood libels against the Jewish state are rising in blood – and they must be fought to the bitter end,” Netanyahu wrote in a Thursday post on X.
“We will defeat hatred – and we will not let terrorism defeat life,” Netanyahu added.