Two Israeli embassy staffers killed amid a rise in antisemitism

NPR

Published May 23, 2025 at 9:17 AM EDT

Facebook
Bluesky
Threads
Flipboard
LinkedIn
Email
Print

Handwritten notes are left at the site of the recent shooting outside the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Two Israeli Embassy staff members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were gunned down Wednesday evening after an event at the museum by a man shouting slogans in support for Palestine.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim worked for the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.

This weekend, they were slated to go to Jerusalem — Milgrim was to meet Lischinsky's family for the first time. According to Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Lischinsky had bought a ring and was planning to propose.

Instead, they were gunned down outside an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.

The killing comes aside a rise in antisemitic incidents. Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, reacts to the news.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.