The Jews in D.C. were Afraid of a Nightmare that was shooting outside the Jewish Museum
The Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., was shot and killed by a man with a history of anti-Semitism
Two staff members from the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. were shot and killed outside of an event at a Jewish museum in the capital.
Shortly after 9 p.m. ET, as an event for young diplomats hosted by the American Jewish Committee wrapped up at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown D.C., a man was observed “pacing back and forth” outside the building, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters.
The man approached a group of four people then opened fire, Smith said. The two people that were killed were a man and woman. Afterward, the shooter entered the museum and was detained by event security, Smith said.
Smith said the suspect shouted “Free, free Palestine” while in custody. Police said they had tentatively identified the suspect as Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago. Smith said he had never had any prior encounters with police.
The statement said Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an increase to security for the Israeli diplomatic missions around the world. He said that he was sad for the families of the young man and woman who died in the attack.
A day after a man with a history of pro-Palestinian activism shot the two embassy workers — a couple about to become engaged to be married — many in the community are still processing what happened. The American Jewish Committee was holding a reception for young diplomats and Mr. Lischinsky and Ms.Milgrim were leaving the museum.
The ambassador said he had received a phone call from President Trump. Leiter said the president told him that the White House was going to do everything it could to end anti-semitism.
“Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social. It’s so sad that things like that can happen. God bless you all!
“We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue,” the group’s CEO, Ted Deutch, said in a statement to NPR. Our attention and our hearts are devoted to those who have been harmed.
“We’re investigating to get more information and we pray for the families of those killed,” Noem said. We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.
An official with the FBI called the shooting a “heinous crime”. The FBI is investigating “ties to potential terrorism or motivation based on a bias-based crime or a hate crime,” he said.
The shooting was denounced by both the American and Israeli politicians. “Absolutely nothing justifies the murder of innocents,” wrote Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on X.
Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. said “Attacking diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line.” Israel will continue to act resolutely to protect its citizens and representatives — everywhere in the world.”
The report was written by NPR’s Odette Yousef from Chicago and by NPR’s Jourdan Ludden from Washington. Shir David contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
The Two Israeli Embassie Staffers killed in Washington, D.C. Rodriguez, 44, of Albany Park, died Oct. 7, 2023
Rodriguez was employed by the American Osteopathic Association. The organization said in a statement that it was sad and shocked that an employee had been arrested as a suspect in the attack, and that it was fully cooperating with the investigation.
The windows of an apartment believed to be his were covered with political signs facing the street below. Some signs were for local politicians and causes, but several others addressed Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas. One called for a ceasefire, while another demanded “Free Palestine!” in handwritten letters and a third said “Justice for Wadea,” referring to six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American who was stabbed to death in his home by his family’s landlord shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
He was taken into custody shortly after the shooting and was being interviewed early Thursday by D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department as well as the FBI.
Rodriguez resided in Albany Park, a northwest Chicago neighborhood, in an apartment on a quiet residential side street.
The office of Benjamin Netanyahu said that he spoke to the parents of both of the people who were killed.
Shoval Ronen wrote on X that he had taught Lischinsky at a Jerusalem seminary and that he had dedicated his life to the State of Israel.
Source: Here’s what we know about the 2 [Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington, D.C.](https://www.npr.org/2025/05/22/nx-s1-5407572/israeli-embassy-staffers-killed-washington-dc)
Yaron Lischinsky, a Jewish community activist in Israel, was killed in a hate crime at the Kansas City Jewish Center
The mayor of Kansas City posted on X about the pain of religious-based violence. We pray for its end.” A Jewish community center in Overland Park was the site of a 2014 shooting that killed three people and was later deemed a hate crime by law enforcement.
“She stood for something larger than herself and she paid the ultimate price for it,” the statement said, calling for unity in the community in response to the attack.
When he was growing up, he lived in Prairie Village, where he was a member of a reform synagogue. The temple described her as a devoted Zionist, and a strong presence in every space she entered.
There was a public diplomacy department at the embassy that worked on the Middle East and North Africa region. On his LinkedIn profile, Lischinsky wrote that he was an “advocate for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding” between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Ted Deutch, the chief executive of AJC, said that Sarah and Yaron were taken from them. They were smiling, laughing and enjoying an event with friends before they were murdered. We are in shock and heartbroken as we attempt to process this immense tragedy.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky was born in Germany but relocated to Israel when he was 16. He held citizenship in both countries, according to the Israeli and German governments.
Shooting Outside of Jewish Museum a “Nightmare That We’ve All Been Afraid Of”: Comment on the Washington Area Shooting Wednesday Night
Mr. Preuss said he and others have seen the rise in antisemitism in the United States since the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue. After the attack on Israel, Jews felt less and less secure, as a result of every swastika written on the wall of a school.
After the longest day that rattled the Jewish community here, across the country and worldwide, the group ended its night by singing Hebrew songs from a list entitled, “Yaron and Sarah: May their memories be a blessing.”
Mr. Preuss said that many of the Washington area’s upcoming candle lighting ceremonies would be inside, but there was one outside the White House on Thursday. He said the vigil was organized by a former Israeli Embassy employee who was a friend of one of the people killed.
He said his organization dispatches security experts to Jewish organizations to assess security risks in order to keep people and organizations safe. The leadership are taught how to respond to attacks and what kinds of attacks are possible.
“There is so much hate and antisemitism that people who want to cause harm can do just that,” Mr. Preuss said, adding that he was “just hoping that it doesn’t happen here, but it did.”
So the shooting Wednesday night was met with shock, he said, but also recognition that similar events are happening “far too often in this country,” now including a place less than one mile from the U.S. Capitol.
For Gil Preuss, chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the loss was unfathomable for him and his co-workers. One person at the federation went to college with Ms. Milgrim; another spent Wednesday night at the museum with her and Mr. Lischinsky, only to walk out of the building just minutes after they had.
The couple whose lives were lost were honored by Jewish organizations in the area. Some leaders of those organizations said the grief is too raw to begin planning official vigils.
The Times of 9/11: When James Rose and Yaron Lischinsky Collided at the Washington Center Jewish Center, a Jewish Community Center, were killed
He said that the museum is not to blame because there is a limit to how far an organization can extend its security. Should it be extended to the entire perimeter of the building? Or the whole block? Security measures such as armed guards and bag checks have become standard at Jewish organizations in the Washington area.
Like so many other people in his community, he realizes that he could have been the victim of the shooting: On the same night, 150 people from his organization were attending their annual meeting, not far away.
The Greater Washington area is home to several hundred thousand Jewish people, making it one of the biggest Jewish population centers in the country. It’s a region now equally heartbroken and shaken by the killings, which the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, described as “targeted anti-Semitic violence” and an act of terror.
The chance to find a husband or wife at the evening reception was a chance that many young people, politically active or otherwise, would have missed. Such events are popular with young Jewish people in the Washington area who want to support a cause.
Rabbi Shira and a fellow rabbi went to pray at the site, and they said that it could have been one of their children.
James Rose is a health care consultant from a Virginia suburb who came in dressed as an Israeli flag and thought the acts were meant to scare people. Being visible and present is one of the best ways to push back against this type of action.
A group holding Israeli flags came together in a sign of solidarity. Some people left handwritten notes about how sorry they were about the shooting that killed Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, who was 26. Lawmakers and others left flowers.