Jerusalem [Israel], May 23: World leaders on Thursday condemned the fatal Washington shooting of a young couple working at the Israeli embassy, as Israel's foreign minister said anti-Israel rhetoric by some in Europe is partly to blame.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were killed as they exited the Capital Jewish Museum from a Jewish function for young diplomats on Wednesday evening. Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to Washington, said they were about to get engaged.
The suspect approached a group of four people and then opened fire, police said. After the shooting, he entered the museum, where he was arrested by private security guards and chanted "Free, free Palestine," as can be seen on a video.
Washington police chief Pamela Smith named the suspect as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago.
Whether the suspected shooter knew the two or what connection he might have to them is unclear. The FBI said it is investigating the case as a possible hate crime.
Lischinsky had a German passport, diplomatic sources told DPA.
The German-Israeli Society (DIG) in Berlin said that he had partly grown up in the southern state of Bavaria and spoke fluent German. He was a founding member of a related youth forum, which focussed on bringing together young people from Germany and Israel, the DIG said.
The president of the DIG, Volker Beck, said the embassy employee was remembered as an "open-minded, intelligent and deeply committed person whose interest in German-Israeli relations and ways to achieve peaceful coexistence in the Middle East radiated to his entire environment."
Condemnation of the killings came from European Union top diplomat Kaja Kallas, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump.
"There is and should be no place in our societies for hatred, extremism, or antisemitism," Kallas said, saying she was "shocked by the shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC."
"These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that European leaders bear some responsibility for the killings.
"There is a direct line connecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement - to this murder," Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
"This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe." He did not name specific countries or organizations.
The shooting occurred after Israel's military recently launched a major air and ground offensive in the sealed-off Gaza Strip, where around 2 million Palestinians live.
Israel's actions in the region are facing increasing international criticism, including from close allies.
Source: Qatar Tribune
