By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – A suspected pro-Palestine activist is in custody Thursday after allegedly shooting dead two Israeli embassy staff members at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC, in an act of terrorism, authorities confirmed.
The Embassy of Israel to the United States identified the Jewish victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who were set to be engaged.
“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives. This evening [Wednesday night], a terrorist shot and killed them as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C,” the Israeli embassy said.
“The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss.”
The embassy added, “Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will be by their side during this terrible time.”
The statement monitored by Worthy News came as more details emerged about the shooting amid reports the suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, was yelling pro-Palestine slogans.
Steven Jensen, the assistant director of the Washington field office of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said his agency will investigate the “heinous crime” for hate crime motivation or ties to “potential terrorism.”
MULTIPLE CALLS
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith recalled that officers responded to multiple calls of a shooting near the Jewish Museum at around 9:08 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
When authorities arrived at the scene, a man and a woman were “found unconscious and not breathing.”
Despite life-saving efforts from first responders, Smith said, “Both were pronounced dead.”
Smith said the human is believed to have committed the act alone and is in custody, adding that his gun was also recovered. While in custody, he allegedly yelled: “Free, free Palestine!”
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described the shooting as “horrific” and assured the community “there is no active threat.” She also said the city “will not tolerate this violence or hate.”
“We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism,” Bowser stressed, adding, “We will not tolerate antisemitism.”
In Israel, there was shock about the killings, too. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed he had spoken to Lischinsky’s father, Daniel, on Thursday morning, telling him “his son was a warrior on the diplomatic front who fell just like a soldier on the battlefield.”
ENGAGED COUPLE
The Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said the two victims, who were a couple, were about to get engaged.
They had enjoyed a night at the American Jewish Congress’s Jewish conference at the Jewish Museum and were looking forward to living together as a married couple soon.
“He bought a ring and planned to propose to her in Jerusalem. A beautiful couple who came to spend an evening at Washington’s cultural center,” he stressed.
Lischinsky was born in Germany but moved to Israel at 16. He served as a research assistant in the embassy’s policy department and was responsible for monitoring trends and events in the Middle East and North Africa, Worthy News learned.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Asian Affairs from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Master’s degree in Diplomacy and Conflict Studies from Reichman University in Herzliya.
A fellow student recalled Lischinsky as “a special human” and a “great friend.”
“Yaron lived the Israeli dream and was serving his country with great honor,” added Israeli television personality Aaron Morali.
He had met him on Birthright, a free ten-day heritage trip program to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young Jews between 18 and 26.
“Young kids from Germany full of questions about Israel, I’ll never forget how you looked at this country with fire in your eyes and love in your heart,” he wrote on the social media platform Instagram. Morali said his friend always told him, “Israel is our home, no matter what.”
“You dedicated your life to serving his country,” he continued, “you dedicated your life to peace, to connection, to building bridges, to making people feel seen and loved.”
Morali added that Lischinsky had a “golden heart” and was “full of light. ”
David Boskey, a close friend of Yaron Lischinsky, suggested that that “light” perhaps came from his belief in Jesus or “Yeshua” as the Messiah, Lord, and Savior. Like Boskey, Lischinsky was a member of a Messianic congregation in Jerusalem.
Boskey said, “You could not have met a kinder soul. He and I used to talk in the back of our congregation on Friday evenings in Jerusalem about life, ministry, identity, futures, passions, faith… He was a man of conviction, humility, warmth, and profound integrity. A man of whom the world was not worthy.”
He stressed, “His precious family has served as a shining example of sacrificial love and servanthood to our community for the many years I have known them. I weep with them for the loss of their dear son and brother. He was the best of us.”
SHARING PASSION
His fiance shared his passion for Israel. Before working in the Embassy’s public diplomacy department, Jewish-American Sarah Lynn Milgrim worked for the Tech2Peace group, where she researched “processes of peace with an emphasis on the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
She reportedly had a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Kansas, a Master’s in International Affairs from American University, and a Master’s in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from The University for Peace.
On social media, she explained that her passion lay at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work and that she was “eager to contribute to organizations dedicated to bridging divides, promoting religious harmony, and advancing sustainable practices.”
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, the founder of The Israel Project, a U.S.-based pro-Israel group, called Milgrim a “wonderful leader.” “She was amazing and had a bright future.”
Boskey said he was shocked that a lone gunman took away this future and that of her soon-to-be official husband. “Yaron was going propose to his beloved fiancee, Sarah Milgrim, in Jerusalem next week. Instead, their families will be burying them in their prime. Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism are as discriminate in their bloodlust as they are indiscriminate from one another,” he wrote on social media.
Yet he wasn’t surprised, saying colleges had become a breeding ground for antisemitism. “The keffiyeh-wearing murderer’s demonic chanting of “Free Palestine” after gunning down Yaron and Sarah in cold blood from point black range in our nation’s capital has been reverberating across college campuses in the U.S. for years at this point. And this call for the genocide of our people, God’s chosen and beloved Jewish children, should echo in the ears of those who have ears to hear,” he added in an emotionally charged statement. “May the memory of my dear friend and his dear bride-to-be continue to be a blessing – he will always be a blessing to me…”
After the attack, U.S. evangelist Franklin Graham wondered, “Where does antisemitism come from?” before answering himself: “It comes from evil in the human heart. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Only God can transform the human heart.” He said it was crucial to “pray for the family members who are suffering because of this wicked act of evil.”
(With additional reporting by Worthy News Founder and Editor George Whitten.)
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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