Two Israeli embassy employees, a young couple who were about to get engaged, were shot dead by a gunman in Washington on Wednesday night, and the suspect who shouted pro-Palestinian slogans is in custody, officials said.
Both were killed as they left an event at the Jewish Museum in the capital of the United States, in the northwest part of Washington, about two kilometers from the White House.
Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith said a man fired a gun at a group of four people, hitting two victims. He had previously been seen walking nervously outside the museum.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry identified the victims as Yaron Liszinski and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.
The sole suspect, Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, shouted "Freedom for Palestine, freedom for Palestine" after he was arrested, Smith said.
"After the shooting, the suspect entered the museum and was detained by event security," she said. "After being handcuffed, he pointed to where he had dumped the weapon, which was later recovered, and implied that he had committed the crime."
She added that the suspect had no previous contact with the police, Reuters reports.
Jekiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the US, told reporters that the young man who was killed "bought a ring this weekend with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem."
US President Donald Trump condemned the shooting. "These horrific killings in Washington, D.C., clearly motivated by anti-Semitism, must stop, now," he wrote on Truth Social. "Hate and radicalism have no place in the United States."
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, said his "heart is broken for the families of the victims, whose lives were cut short by the hand of a vile anti-Semitic murderer."
"We are facing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and savage incitement against the State of Israel. The bloody slander against Israel is spreading and must be decisively stopped."
He added that security measures would be increased at Israeli embassies around the world.
Johann Wadeful, Germany's foreign minister, expressed shock at the killings. "Nothing can justify anti-Semitic violence," he wrote on social media.
Israel: The Consequence of Toxic Anti-Semitic Incitement
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sarr says the shooting is a direct result of "toxic anti-Semitic incitement" against Israel and Jews around the world since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Saar lies that "incitement to anti-Semitism" is also coming from leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially in Europe. He said that "incitement against Israel" and false accusations must stop, Reuters reports.
"I am very concerned that similar incidents could happen again in the future," Sar said.
He also said that the victims of the embassy shooting were employed as local staff.
Political background
The shooting could serve as a political weapon for Netanyahu and his far-right allies to take an even tougher stance on the Gaza conflict, as well as to curry favor with Western allies who are pressing to ease the aid blockade on the war-torn region, Reuters reports.
In June 1982, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, was wounded in London by the Palestinian group Abu Nidal, which had broken away from the PLO, the British agency recalls.
Although the assassination attempt failed, then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon used the attack as a pretext for an offensive on Beirut, where the PLO headquarters were located.
Wednesday's shooting will further fuel the debate in the US about the war in Gaza, which has already deeply divided the public between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters.
Israel's conservative allies, led by Trump, have labeled pro-Palestinian protesters as anti-Semitic.
Trump has cut off funding to elite American universities that he accuses of allowing anti-Semitic demonstrations, and his administration has detained foreign student protesters without charging them.
"Targeted violence"
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the attack, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said: "We will bring this depraved criminal to justice."
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and District of Columbia Attorney General Jeanine Piro visited the crime scene after the shooting.
FBI Deputy Director Don Bongino said the suspect is being questioned by police and the FBI.
"Initial indications indicate this was a targeted act of violence," he wrote in a post on Xu. "Our FBI team is fully engaged and will provide you with answers as soon as we can, without compromising any additional leads."
The event at the capital's Jewish Museum was organized by the American Jewish Committee, an organization that, according to its website, supports Israel and opposes anti-Semitism.
The online invitation for the event called it the Young Diplomats Reception, describing it as a gathering of Jewish professionals aged 22 to 45 and members of the Washington diplomatic community.
Several hours after the shooting, several people gathered at the crime scene, including a man kneeling at the intersection with a repurposed Israeli flag draped over his shoulder.
Aron Shemtov, who studies at a rabbinical college in California, said he came to the museum to express his support after hearing about the shooting.
"When a member of the community is killed simply for being who they are, we stand proud, we stand strong, and we never give up," Shemtov said.
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, who was also at the scene, said the couple occasionally came to his synagogue in Washington.
"It's very sad to see that instead of experiencing the most joyful moment of their lives - they should be getting married - they are being killed in the street just for being who they are," said the rabbi, who is also executive vice president of the Jewish organization American Friends of Lubavitch.
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