Who were Israeli Jews killed in Washington in name of 'Free Palestine'?

The two people shot and killed outside a Jewish museum in Washington were young staffers at the Israeli Embassy who were soon to be engaged. The suspect shouted “Free Palestine” as he was being arrested. Israel identified the victims as Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, without giving their ages. They were leaving a young diplomats event at the Capital Jewish Museum that was meant to “foster unity and celebrate Jewish heritage” when they were killed on Wednesday. Lischinsky had bought an engagement ring and was just days away from proposing to Milgrim on a planned trip to Jerusalem, according to Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter.

Here is a look at the victims: Yaron Lischinsky worked as a research assistant at the Israeli Embassy, where he was responsible for a number of tasks, including keeping its political department up to date on “important events and trends happening in the Middle East & North Africa,” according to his LinkedIn profile. Lischinsky moved to Israel from Germany at age 16, according to his profile, and he said that he had “the privilege of calling both Jerusalem and Nuremberg my home.”

Ron Prosor, a veteran Israeli diplomat, said that Lischinsky was a student of his at an Israeli university. He said that Lischinsky was Christian, “a true lover of Israel” who had served in the military “and chose to dedicate his life to the state of Israel.” In Germany, the German-Israeli Society — a group that promotes bilateral relations and solidarity with Israel — said that Lischinsky grew up partly in Bavaria and spoke fluent German.

It said that he was a founding member of the youth forum of the Israeli-German Society, the group’s counterpart in Israel, and took a job at the Israeli Embassy in Washington in 2022. It said that he was also a passionate photographer. On his LinkedIn profile, Lischinsky said that he advocated for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding. He said that he was an “ardent believer” in deepening Israel’s ties with the Arab world through the U.S.-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords.

On Instagram, his bio included a yellow ribbon symbolizing the struggle to free the hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.He earned a master’s degree in government, diplomacy and strategy from Reichman University near Tel Aviv.

Sarah Milgrim worked at the Israeli Embassy’s department of public diplomacy and organized visits and missions to Israel. She was an American citizen, according to Israel's former ambassador to the U.S., Mike Herzog.In her LinkedIn bio, she said that her passion “lies at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work.” She said that as a Jewish educator, she facilitated “insightful discussions on geopolitics in Israel and Palestine.” 

She said that she worked in Tel Aviv for Tech2Peace, an organization that provides “high-tech and entrepreneurial training alongside conflict dialogue to young Palestinians and Israelis.” She had a certificate in religious engagement and peacebuilding from the United States Institute of Peace, an organization funded by the U.S. Congress that promotes conflict resolution.

She graduated from the University of Kansas in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in environmental studies with a minor in anthropology and also had a master's in international affairs from American University. Her Instagram bio also had a yellow ribbon, as well as a passage from Deuteronomy, “Justice, justice you shall pursue,” written in Hebrew.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from AP.)