Two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot and killed in front of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. after leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee last night. The victims, Sarah Milgram, 26, and Yaron Lischinsky, 30, were only a few days away from being engaged, according to Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
IsraAID, an Israeli-based aid group noted that the event was focused on bridging gaps between Israeli and Palestinian communities and “bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza through Israeli-Palestinian and regional collaboration.”
Upon leaving the event, Milgram and Lischinsky walked past the perpetrator, identified as Elias Rodriquez, before he turned around and fatally shot them. Three people who walked out with Milgrim and Lischinsky were able to escape.
Who were Sarah Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky?
Milgram had been working for the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy since 2023, after previously working with Tech2Peace, a Tel-Aviv based peacebuilding organization.
The AJC called Migrim “warm and compassionate, committed to peacebuilding and passionate about sustainability and people-to-people relations.” She was also a member of the AJC-Mimouna Michael Sachs Fellowship for Emerging Leaders.
Milgrim’s experience with antisemitism started back in 2017, when her high school had been vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. As a senior in high school, she spoke with a local news reporter, sharing about feeling unsafe at her synagogue, and now having to worry “about [her] safety at [her] school,” declaring “that shouldn’t be a thing.”
Milgrim’s boyfriend Lischinsky had been a research assistant on the Middle East and North Africa at the embassy since 2022 and was the son of a Jewish father and Christian mother. He emigrated from Germany to Israel when he was 16.
Lischinsky was “a Christian, a true lover of Israel, served in the IDF, and chose to dedicate his life to the State of Israel and the Zionist cause,” said Ron Proser, the Israeli ambassador to Germany on X.
The couple was preparing to leave for a trip to Jerusalem in the next few days, where Lischinsky was going to propose and introduce Milgrim to his family in Israel, according to an Israeli official.
Who is the Suspect?
The suspect, Elias Rodriquez is a 30-year old man from Chicago, and is currently in custody being questioned by the police.
Just moments after the deadly shooting took place, Rodriguez entered the museum “looking distraught,” causing the organizer of the event, Jojo Drake Kalin, to rush over and offer him water, mistaking him for a victim.
An eye-witness at the scene told CBS News that she saw a man come into the museum “covered in rain and just looking really distressed and scared.” They were comforting him, thinking he was looking for refuge after hearing gunshots.
The witness, Katie Kalisher, asked the suspect if he liked the museum, to which he asked what type of museum it was. Kalisher clarified it was “a Jewish museum,” to which he asked “do you think that’s why they did this attack?”
With the severity of the incident still unclear, Kalisher reassured him it was unrelated, and asked if he was okay. She recounted to CBS News that he pulled a keffiyeh from his bag and shouted “I did it, I did it for Gaza. Free, free Palestine!”
According to Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith, the man “implied” he was behind the shooting and revealed to authorities where the discarded weapon was.
Rodriquez was restrained by law enforcement immediately.
According to a complaint filed by the FBI, which became unsealed today, Rodriquez told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.” The complaint details Rodriquez’s “expressed admiration for the actions of an individual who self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C… as a form of protest intended to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Sarah and Yaron were stolen from us,” said American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch in a statement after the incident. “Moments before they were murdered, they were smiling, laughing, and enjoying an event with colleagues and friends. We are in shock and heartbroken as we attempt to process this immense tragedy.”
