2 staff members of Israeli Embassy killed in shooting near Jewish museum
in DC
[May 22, 2025]
By MAYA SWEEDLER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington
were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a
Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he
was arrested, police said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar identified the victims as Yaron
Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Lischinsky was a research assistant, and
Milgrim organized visits and missions to Israel.
They were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect
approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police
Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.
The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, was observed
pacing outside the museum before the shooting, walked into the museum
after the shooting and was detained by event security, Smith said.
When he was taken into custody, the suspect began chanting, “Free, free
Palestine,” Smith said. She said law enforcement did not believe there
was an ongoing threat to the community.
The stunning attack prompted Israeli missions to beef up their security.
The shooting comes as Israel has launched another major offensive in the
Gaza Strip in a war with Hamas that has heightened tensions across the
Middle East and internationally.
“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must
end, NOW!” President Donald Trump posted on social media early Thursday.
“Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA."
Israel's reaction
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s office said Thursday that
he was “shocked” by the “horrific, antisemitic” shooting.
“We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild
incitement against Israel,” he said in a statement.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said the two people killed
were a young couple about to be engaged, saying the man had purchased a
ring this week with the intent to propose next week in Jerusalem.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog told Israeli Army
Radio that the woman killed was an American employee of the embassy and
the man was Israeli.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was at the scene with former judge
Jeanine Pirro, who serves as the U.S. attorney in Washington and whose
office would prosecute the case.
The statement from Netanyahu’s office said he spoke to Bondi, who told
him Trump was “involved in managing the incident” and the U.S. would
bring the perpetrator to justice.
It was not immediately clear whether Rodriguez had an attorney who could
comment on his behalf. A telephone number listed in public records rang
unanswered.
Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI, wrote in a post on social media
that “early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence.”
Israel's campaign in Gaza
The influential pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera aired on a loop
what appeared to be mobile phone footage of the alleged gunman, wearing
a suit jacket and slacks, being pulled away after the shooting, his
hands behind his back.
The war in the Gaza Strip began with the Palestinian militant group
Hamas coming out of Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, to kill 1,200 people and take
some 250 hostages back to the coastal enclave.
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Law enforcement work the scene after two staff members of the
Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed outside the
Capital Jewish Museum, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
In the time since, Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza has killed
more than 53,000 people, mostly women and children, according to
local health authorities, whose count doesn’t differentiate between
combatants and civilians. The fighting has displaced 90% of the
territory’s roughly 2 million population, sparked a hunger crisis
and obliterated vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape.
‘In cold blood’
The violence occurred following the American Jewish Committee's
annual Young Diplomats reception at the museum.
"This is a shocking act of violence and our community is holding
each other tighter tonight," Ted Deutch, American Jewish Committee’s
chief executive, said in a statement early Thursday. “At this
painful moment, we mourn with the victims’ families, loved ones, and
all of Israel. May their memories be for a blessing."
Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum when they heard
gunshots and a man came inside looking distressed, they said. Kalin
said people came to his aid and brought him water, thinking he
needed help, without realizing he was the suspect. When police
arrived, he pulled out a red keffiyeh and repeatedly yelled, “Free
Palestine,’” Kalin said.
“This event was about humanitarian aid,” Kalin said. “How can we
actually help both the people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How
can we bring together Muslims and Jews and Christians to work
together to actually help innocent people? And then here he is just
murdering two people in cold blood.”
Last week, the Capital Jewish Museum was one of the local nonprofits
in Washington awarded funding from a $500,000 grant program to
increase its security. The museum’s leaders were concerned because
it is a Jewish organization and due to its new LGBTQ exhibit,
according to NBC4 Washington.
“We recognize that there are threats associated with this as well,”
Executive Director Beatrice Gurwitz told the TV station. “And again,
we want to ensure that our space is as welcoming and secure for
everybody who comes here while we are exploring these stories.”
In response to the shooting, the museum said in a statement that
they are “deeply saddened and horrified by the senseless violence
outside the Museum this evening.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington CEO Gil Preuss said in a
statement that he was horrified by the shooting and mourned the loss
of the two people killed.
“Our hearts are with their families and loved ones, and with all of
those who are impacted by this tragic act of antisemitic violence,”
he said.
Israeli diplomats in the past have been targeted by violence, both
by state-backed assailants and Palestinian militants over the
decades of the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict that grew out of
the founding of Israel in 1948. The Palestinians seek Gaza and the
West Bank for a future state, with east Jerusalem as its capital —
lands Israel captured in the 1967 war. However, the peace process
between the sides has been stalled for years.
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