Shooting of Israeli diplomats outside Jewish museum in Washington DC condemned around the world

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Shooting of Israeli diplomats outside Jewish museum in Washington DC condemned around the world

The Israeli embassy has said it is "heartbroken and devastated" after two of its staff were shot and killed outside a Jewish museum in Washington DC, naming them as Yaron Lichinsky and Sarah Milgrim.

The pair were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday evening when a suspect approached a group of people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.

A man has been arrested, named by police as Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old man from Chicago.

He was seen pacing around outside the museum before the attack, and walked into the building afterwards, before being detained by event security.

The incident appears to be an "act of targeted violence", according to Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino. He allegedly yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after his arrest.

The Israeli Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, said the young couple were about to be engaged, saying the man had purchased a ring this week with the intent to propose next week in Jerusalem.

Lischinsky was a research assistant, and Milgrim organised visits and missions to Israel, according to Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Smith said law enforcement did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that he was “shocked” by the “horrific, antisemitic” shooting.

“We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel,” he said in a statement.

One Israeli minister linked the attacks to the UK and allies' recent criticisms of Netanyahu and Israel's expanding military operations in Gaza.

Posting on X, Amichai Chikli, Minister for Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism, said, "the irresponsible leaders in the West who give backing to this hatred – whether through appeasement, double standards, or silence" must be "held to account".

He went on to add: "French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have all, in different ways, emboldened the forces of terror through their failure to draw moral red lines. This cowardice has a price – and that price is paid in Jewish blood."

Starmer condemned the shooting, writing on X: "Antisemitism is an evil we must stamp out wherever it appears.

"My thoughts are with their colleagues, family and loved ones, and as always, I stand in solidarity with the Jewish community."

Netanyahu said he had instructed Israeli missions around the world to beef up security in the wake of the attack.

US Attorney General, Pam Bondi, said security around the Israeli embassy in Washington DC "has been increased".

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was at the scene with former judge Jeanine Pirro, who serves as the US attorney in Washington and whose office would prosecute the case.

Posting on social media, US President Donald Trump said: "These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!"

He went on to add: "Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!'

Israel's President, Isaac Herzog, said he was "devastated" by the scenes in Washington.

"This is a despicable act of hatred, of antisemitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy.

"Our hearts are with the loved ones of those murdered and our immediate prayers are with the injured. I send my full support to the Ambassador and all the embassy staff."

The incident comes after the museum was awarded funding from a $500,000 (£372,495) grant programme to increase its security last week. The museum has said in a statement it is "saddened and horrified" by the shooting.

Yoni Kalin and Katie Kalisher were inside the museum, where they heard gunshots before seeing a man come inside who looked distressed.

They say people went to help him, not knowing he was the suspect. When police arrived, he pulled out a red keffiyeh and repeatedly yelled, "Free Palestine".

[Elfdart]

Oh, so now Israelis have a problem with armed attacks on diplomats.

Awfully rich, coming from the same government that did this last year:

Iran says Israel bombs its embassy in Syria, kills commanders

I've seen some lefties try to make the case that this is like the assassination of Vom Rath in Paris -which was used as a pretext for Kristallnacht. That analogy isn't very good, since what Israel and the US are doing to Gaza right now is more akin to what the Nazis did to Warsaw.

The shooter has been arrested and will no doubt face the most severe punishment, which he deserves since there's no such thing as "vigilante justice" and no matter how vile Yaron Lichinsky was (see below), no one made his killer judge, jury and executioner.

[Ralin]

I've seen some lefties try to make the case that this is like the assassination of Vom Rath in Paris -which was used as a pretext for Kristallnacht. That analogy isn't very good, since what Israel and the US are doing to Gaza right now is more akin to what the Nazis did to Warsaw.

I think they mean that more in terms of backlash for pro-Palestinian activists in the US.

And yes you can insert your own comment about what they're going to do that they weren't doing anyway.

[Elfdart]

Funny thing is, the police state didn't need to do all that much to shut down the protests a year ago and even less now. On the Useful Idiots podcast on Friday, Norman Finkelstein makes the point that even though Gaza protesters don't face so much as a fraction of the violence their anti-Vietnam counterparts did fifty-plus years ago (no Kent or Jackson States, knock on wood), they've been more or less neutralized. The media won't cover them; they're being blacklisted and doxed; and odds are that over the summer quite a few were pulled aside by parents who told them to knock it off since they're not about to spend the equivalent of a mortgage on a small house to send them to school so they can be arrested/expelled.

One advantage college protesters had during Vietnam was that tuition at most schools could be paid for with a summer job (with a little money left over), and having a college degree meant gainful employment at a time when one full-time earner made enough money to support a family of five. One of Reagan's henchmen in California put two and two together and declared an educated proletariat was the greatest danger the country faced, so measures had to be taken to keep the riffraff out of college or put them in so much debt that they could be easily blackmailed if they got out of line. It worked.