‘Something horrific like this was eventually going to happen': DC's Jewish community reels from Israeli Embassy staffers' killings
The killing of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, who were shot dead outside of the Capital Jewish Museum after an event at the venue on Wednesday night, sent shock waves through Jewish communities around the world.
But mixed in with the shock of Wednesday night's tragedy was also a sense of inevitability, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington CEO Gil Preuss said.
'Part of this is like people knew that something horrific like this was eventually going to happen' after other instances of antisemitic violence in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California in recent years, Preuss said.
Wednesday's shooting follows other recent attacks that have been condemned as antisemitic violence, including the residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, being set ablaze last month. But for the Jewish community in Washington, Wednesday's killings hit closer to home.
The attack was deeply personal to the local community, Preuss said, as the young couple was involved in numerous D.C.-wide activities. Milgrim, in particular, was heavily embedded in D.C. life, after graduating with a masters in international affairs from American University in 2023.
Community members are reeling from the loss of their friends and contending with the 'disbelief that something like this happened in our own community, and to people who we know,' Preuss said.
He added that sometimes he feels people 'don't take seriously' safety concerns raised by the Jewish community, despite the pattern of antisemitic attacks. Concerns about the rise of rhetoric like 'globalized intifada,' Preuss said, are often brushed off as 'just language.'
'But what we saw last night was an enactment of globalized intifada, of people attacking the Jewish community — people who were leaving an event that was about bridge-building and peace and how do we solve problems in the Middle East,' he said, noting that the museum hosting the event is also currently showing an exhibit spotlighting the local LGBTQ+ community in D.C.
The shooting comes amid heightened tensions following the Hamas terror attack on Israel in October 2023. Backlash has grown in the U.S. and globally against Israel's intensifying military campaign in Gaza, and many Jewish advocacy organizations simultaneously warn of rising antisemitism.
Elias Rodriguez, who was 'tentatively' identified by law enforcement as the suspect, chanted 'free, free Palestine,' while in custody, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela A. Smith said during a press briefing Wednesday.
Preuss said D.C. officials 'dramatically increased security' around the city's Jewish organizations Thursday morning, and called for increased vigilance, though he noted that upping security practices 'doesn't guarantee that it won't happen.'
'We do need to look at physical security and how to put all the precautions in place to make sure that someone who's thinking about committing a horrendous act thinks twice,' he said. 'The second thing is training of people to keep their eyes out to be aware of a suspicious person, to report things, to know what to do and how to react.'
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on if there are broader plans to bolster security for Jewish institutions in the city.
There have been other high-profile attacks on American Jews. Just last month, a suspect set the official residence for Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor and one of the most prominent Jewish American politicians, ablaze while he and his family were inside. The suspect said Shapiro 'needs to know that he 'will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.''
The Washington Hebrew Congregation, a hub of Jewish spiritual life in the capital, said in a statement that Wednesday's shooting was 'a tragic reminder of the importance of consistently reassessing the security policies and protocols we have in place and evaluating whether there are changes we can make to enhance our security posture.'
The congregation, which said it had just created a director of safety and security position last year in response to rising reports of antisemitism nationwide, also noted that 'the threats we face today are the same threats we faced yesterday before last night's horrific shooting and the same threats we will continue to face into the future.'
Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, called the shooting a 'senseless act of political violence' on Fox News Thursday morning.
'It was clearly a shooting simply because they were Jewish and because they were Israeli,' Halber said, adding that despite the violence, the Jewish community 'cannot and will not and doesn't want to put themselves in a sealed bubble,' but will instead 'continue to live proud, strong Jewish lives openly and publicly.'
But that determination is not without the need for heightened security protections.
'What is needed right now is for the federal government to step up and to not haggle and pass a large bill providing billions of dollars to institutions that are at threat,' to increase security hiring and widen protections around Jewish cultural and religious centers, Halber said.
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