Israeli Embassy Employees Shot Dead in Washington

On the evening of May 21, two employees of the Israeli embassy were shot dead by an unknown assailant in Washington, D.C. The assailant shouted "Freedom for Palestine!" as he was arrested, reports CNN.

Photo: Ritu Jethani | Dreamstime.com

The slain men, Yaron Lishinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were a couple who officials said were soon to be engaged. They were attending an event for young professionals at the Jewish Museum in the capital, organized by the American Jewish Committee. Around 21 p.m., a gunman approached them at the entrance to the museum and opened fire, killing the couple.

The suspect, identified by Washington police as 31-year-old Chicago native Elias Rodriguez, pretended to be a witness after the shooting.

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When police arrived, he surrendered and as they were handcuffing him, he shouted, "Freedom, freedom for Palestine!" Authorities say he is in custody. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said the man "understands that he has committed a crime."

The shooting, in the heart of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, has rocked the Jewish community at a time of heightened global tensions. US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remain elusive, and fighting in Gaza continues.

Tensions are also rising at US universities, where hundreds of Palestinian supporters have been arrested amid a bitter debate over the right to protest Israel's military actions and accusations of anti-Semitism.

"We will do everything we can to ensure the safety of all citizens, especially our Jewish community this evening," U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday, May 21.

"These horrific murders in D.C., fueled by anti-Semitism, must stop. NOW! Hate and radicalism have no place in the United States," President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, offering his condolences to the families of the victims.

Rodriguez is being questioned by the Washington Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said.

He reported on the social network X: “Preliminary data indicate that this was an act of targeted violence.”

American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutsch called the incident "an unspeakable act of violence."

“At this moment, while we wait for more information from the police about what happened, all our thoughts are with the victims and their families,” he stressed.

Suspect 'walked in circles' near museum before shooting

The police chief said Rodriguez had been circling the museum building waiting for the right moment. When he got there, he approached a group of four people and opened fire on two of them with a pistol.

After this, he went inside the museum, where he was detained.

Witness Sarah Marinuzzi told CNN that the suspect entered the building, "pretended to be an eyewitness" and waited more than 10 minutes for police to arrive before finally confessing to the crime.

Another witness, Paige Siegel, said she heard Rodriguez say, "I did it for Gaza," and shouted "Free Palestine!"

Rodriguez told officers, "I did it," when he was arrested Wednesday night, according to another eyewitness, Yoni Kalina.

Kalina was at the same event at the museum, organized by the American Jewish Committee, when he heard gunshots.

“At first I didn’t even realize that they were shots,” he noted.

When the man entered the museum, Kalina said, he pretended to be a witness, sitting to the side and not really interacting with others. Ten minutes later, when the police arrived, the man said, "I did it. It was for Palestine."

"Horror!" Kalina concluded. "I didn't even realize that he was the criminal."

Between the shooting and his arrest, Rodriguez appeared shaken, he said, with some attendees approaching him, offering him water and asking if he was OK.

Kalina noted that about 50 people attended the event, which focused on how multinational religious organizations can work together to provide humanitarian aid in conflict zones such as Gaza. More than 30 embassy staff were also present.

“I’m still in shock,” Kalina admitted. “I hope we will learn from this and understand that violence and terrorism do not lead us to the desired goal.”

The couple "were in their prime"

When police arrived on scene minutes after the shooting, they found "a man and a woman unconscious and unresponsive," Smith said.

“Both victims died from their injuries,” she concluded.

“We are shocked by the news of this brutal terrorist attack that took the lives of two of our employees in Washington,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on social media site X early on May 22. “We embrace the grieving families during this difficult time and will always stand by them.”

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"Yaron and Sara were our friends and colleagues. They passed away in the prime of their lives," Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, wrote on social media on Thursday, May 22. "The entire embassy staff is shocked by their murder. There are no words to express the depth of our grief and horror at this loss."

Earlier, he told reporters that the couple were planning to get engaged.

"The young man had recently bought a ring and was planning to propose to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a wonderful couple," he summed up.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement.

"My heart breaks for the families of the young man and woman whose lives were suddenly cut short by a vile, anti-Semitic killer," Netanyahu said.

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