The fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., late Wednesday night drew an outpouring of grief as well as a global condemnation of antisemitic violence. 

The victims, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, were attending a reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) on Wednesday night at the Capital Jewish Museum when they were shot and killed. The two were both staffers at the Israeli Embassy in D.C. and were expected to get engaged to be married within the week. 

The shooter was apprehended at the scene, and police said he shouted “free, free Palestine” while being detained. 

American, Israeli and other foreign officials and members of the community connected to the AJC — diplomats, advocates and professionals working in foreign policy and conflict resolution — expressed outrage and devastation. 

The attack also underscored the persistent threat facing Jewish and Israeli communities. Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. are at an all-time high, spiking after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel and Israel’s resulting war in the Gaza Strip.

“Hours later, I am still shocked by this tragedy … and not shocked at all,” Nathan Diament, executive director for public policy for the Orthodox Union, posted on the social platform X. The Orthodox Union is at the forefront of advocating for increased federal funds to secure houses of worship, in particular synagogues.

“This is where incessant [and] unchecked antisemitism [and] the demonization of Israel leads; to the murder of innocents, the cutting off of a bright future.” 

What happened?

The shooting occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on May 21 outside the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington, D.C.

Police named the suspect as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, and the FBI said early indications are that the shooting was a targeted act of violence. 

D.C. officials, in a press conference Wednesday night, said there was no further, active threat after the alleged shooter was apprehended. They said the investigation was in its preliminary stages. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi was also at the press conference. She said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro will prosecute the case. Bondi later said there's early indication the shooter acted alone.

“This defendant, if charged, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Bondi said.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a communist political party active in protesting against what it views as Israeli genocide against Palestinians, said Rodriguez had a brief association with one branch of PSL that ended in 2017. 

“We reject any attempt to associate the PSL with the DC shooting,” the group wrote in a post on X. “We know of no contact with him in over 7 years. We have nothing to do with this shooting and do not support it.”

Who were the victims?

Lischinsky was born in Israel, moved with his family to Germany for several years and returned to Israel when he was 16, The New York Times reported. He served as a research assistant in the political department at the embassy, and friends and associates said he was a practicing Christian.

Milgrim, an American from Kansas, worked at the embassy and organized trips to Israel. Milgrim’s family is Jewish. 

The two were attending an event that brought together U.S. government officials, young diplomats serving in D.C., and professionals working in foreign policy and conflict resolution. The evening focused on addressing the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and Israeli-Palestinian regional collaboration, according to participants of the event. 

“The brutal and tragic irony that such an event — motivated by humanitarian principles — was targeted for more violence is heartbreaking. We unequivocally condemn this attack,” IsraAID, the organization that served as a keynote speaker at the event, said in a statement. 

The two victims were memorialized by friends and colleagues.

“Sarah, an American from Overland Park, Kansas, was warm and compassionate, committed to peacebuilding, and passionate about sustainability and people-to-people relations,” AJC CEO Ted Deutch said in a statement. 

“Yaron always had a smile on his face and a welcoming presence.”

“Yaron was a valued colleague and friend to many at Hudson. He and Sarah, soon to be his fiancée, were dedicated professionals at the Israeli Embassy,” the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, said in a statement. 

U.S. officials, foreign governments, Jewish institutions call out antisemitism

President Trump condemned the attacks as being based on antisemitism. 

Other U.S. officials and foreign governments were quick to label the violence as antisemitic, the outrage spanning the political spectrum from Vice President Vance to progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

“As we await more details, we must be clear that hatred has no home here. Antisemitism is a threat to all we hold dear as a society. It must be confronted and rooted out everywhere,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on X. 

United Kingdom Foreign Minister David Lammy condemned the “appalling, antisemitic crime.”

The German Embassy in Washington called it an “antisemitic act of terror” 

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) pointed to anti-Israel protests, in particular on college campuses, as fueling acts of antisemitic violence. 

“Since October 7, antisemitism has surged across the country. On college campuses, in the streets, and across social media, antisemitism isn’t just spreading — it’s being tolerated, normalized, and even celebrated. It’s disgusting and completely unacceptable,” he said in a statement. 

Stuart E. Eizenstat, chair of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, described the shooting as an assault on the Jewish state and Jewish people. 

“Inciteful antisemitic rhetoric is a growing and increasingly deadly danger to Jews and societies worldwide,” he said in a statement. “It must be forcibly and universally condemned. Our thoughts are with the victims’ families and colleagues at this time of great loss.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres did not label the violence as antisemitic, but he issued a condemnation. 

“Nothing can justify such a horrific act. I reiterate my consistent condemnation of attacks against diplomatic officials,” he said in a statement on X.  

“I call for the perpetrator to be brought to justice. I extend my sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims and to the Government of Israel.”