Body of Israeli Embassy Staffer Yaron Lischinsky to Return Home as DC Anti-Semitic Attack Sparks Global Outrage

By:  Fern Sidman

The body of Yaron Lischinsky, one of the two Israeli Embassy staffers murdered in a cold-blooded anti-Semitic shooting outside Washington, D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum, is expected to arrive in Israel on Friday for burial, according to officials from Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Lischinsky, 26, and his girlfriend and colleague, 24-year-old Sarah Milgrim, were gunned down just after 9 p.m. Wednesday night by alleged shooter Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old Chicago resident who is now in police custody. The couple, both of whom worked for the Israeli Embassy in D.C., were leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) when they were brutally shot at close range in what authorities are investigating as a hate-motivated attack.

As The New York Post reported, a spokesperson from Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that Lischinsky’s coffin would be received on Israeli soil by family members and ministry representatives at a secure and undisclosed location. It will then be transported to a burial site where funeral arrangements are expected to take place with full diplomatic and military honors.

According to D.C. prosecutors, Rodriguez did not hesitate to reveal his anti-Semitic motivation for the murders. After being taken into custody by police inside the museum, he allegedly declared, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” and was heard shouting, “Free, free Palestine” — a slogan that, while not inherently anti-Semitic, has increasingly become a rallying cry for those who conflate legitimate political protest with violent hatred of Jews.

The American Jewish Committee confirmed that the event Lischinsky and Milgrim had attended was intended to promote Jewish advocacy and dialogue — ironically highlighting the very values of peace and diplomacy that the two young Israelis worked to uphold.

The New York Post reviewed public records and professional profiles revealing that Lischinsky had served in the Israel Defense Forces for three years before joining the Israeli Embassy in Washington in September 2022. He worked as a research assistant in the embassy’s Political Department, a critical unit focused on maintaining bilateral relations with the U.S. government.

His girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, had recently joined the embassy in November 2023 as part of its Public Diplomacy Department. Educated at the University of Kansas and American University, Milgrim had a passion for intercultural outreach and was known by colleagues as a bridge-builder between Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

The couple was planning to get engaged in the coming weeks, according to friends and coworkers who spoke to The New York Post on condition of anonymity. “They represented the very best of what Israel hopes to share with the world,” said one embassy staffer. “This wasn’t just an attack on two people. It was an attack on everything we stand for.”

The murders have sparked swift condemnation from Jewish organizations, foreign officials, and advocates worldwide. David Goldenberg, Midwest regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, emphasized that while political speech is protected, allowing anti-Semitic rhetoric to go unchecked at pro-Hamas rallies fuels the kind of hatred that can culminate in violence.

“Saying ‘Free Palestine’ is, in itself, not antisemitic,” Goldenberg said, according to The New York Post. “But when the (anti-Jewish) chants begin, you as the leader, you lead. You shut it down.”

He pointed specifically to slogans such as “Globalize the Intifada,” a common refrain at radical protests that many interpret as a direct incitement to violence against Jews worldwide.

The double murder has reignited fears within Jewish communities both in the U.S. and abroad, as protests related to the ongoing Israel-Gaza war have increasingly spilled over into hate crimes and violent threats. Jewish institutions, from schools to synagogues, have tightened security in the days following the attack, and law enforcement agencies remain on high alert for potential copycat incidents.

As The New York Post previously reported, the NYPD announced enhanced patrols around synagogues and Jewish community centers throughout New York City, while federal agencies are continuing to monitor online forums for threats linked to anti-Semitic extremism.

Back in Israel, the news of Lischinsky’s death has devastated his family and neighbors in the city of Ramat Gan, where he grew up. His former classmates and IDF colleagues described him as “gentle,” “intellectual,” and “fiercely committed to peace.”

“Yaron believed in diplomacy as a path forward,” said a childhood friend. “He chose to serve in Washington not for prestige, but because he believed in the power of words and relationships. He was a peacemaker. Now he’s a martyr for that cause.”

The Trump administration, while condemning the attack, has not yet clarified whether federal hate crime charges will be filed. A senior State Department official told The New York Post that “diplomatic staff abroad and their families deserve the full protection of American law” and that “this heinous act will not go unpunished.”

Israeli officials, meanwhile, have privately voiced concerns that the political atmosphere in the United States — including the normalization of radical anti-Zionist slogans and the proliferation of anti-Israel campus activism — has contributed to a climate in which violent anti-Semitism can thrive.

“This wasn’t just an isolated act of madness,” an Israeli diplomat told The New York Post. “It was the predictable outcome of years of unchecked hate speech dressed up as political activism.”

As Yaron Lischinsky’s body makes its final journey home to Israel, the reverberations of his murder continue to echo through diplomatic channels, Jewish communities, and halls of government. He was a man of quiet service, suddenly thrust into the center of a global reckoning on anti-Semitism and political extremism.

His death, alongside that of Sarah Milgrim, has become a sobering reminder of the dangers faced by Jews — even in the heart of the democratic West — when hatred is allowed to metastasize unchallenged.

For now, the world waits for answers and justice. But in the streets of Jerusalem, in the halls of the embassy, and in the memories of those who knew them, Yaron and Sarah’s legacy will live on — not in fear, but in purpose.