Israeli staff shot dead in D.C were young couple set to be engaged

They were both in their twenties, happy together and preparing for something new. Before meeting Yoni, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, bought an engagement ring, intending to propose to her beneath the skies of Jerusalem in a week.

Although only 26, Sarah Milgrim, his girlfriend, had already been planning what their future together would look like. Yet these dreams were dashed on a peaceful Wednesday night in D.C.

when a gunman aimed shots at an immigrant family outside the Jewish Museum and ended the lives of two people sharing love and wanting peace.

Just after the “Young Diplomats Reception” at the American Jewish Committee, the Israeli Embassy employees in Washington had been spotted together.

Immediately after leaving the museum, officials say, Elias Rodriguez, a 34-year-old man, jumped out and attacked them. People standing nearby said that before he was taken down by police, the shooter yelled out “Free Palestine.” Because of the unclear motives being checked, Rodriguez has been charged with first-degree murder.

Word of these murders spread quick disaster across diplomatic and Jewish circles on both continents. People who worked with Yaron and Sarah remembered them as promising people—idealistic, kind and fully focused on uniting people.

After relocating from Jerusalem in 2022, the embassy welcomed Yaron, who was an outstanding academic who loved international teamwork. While in school, he won a Model United Nations award for his efforts to support the Abraham Accords and arguing that talking can help solve conflicts.

He described himself on LinkedIn as someone whose mission is to connect people one conversation at a time.

Years before coming to D.C., Sarah had worked with Tech2Peace, an Israeli nonprofit designed to bring together Israelis and Palestinians using technology and conversations. Several spoke of the way she showed empathy, focused carefully on people’s needs and relaxed relationships by being so warm.

The organization posted, “She thought peace was not just an idea, but something that was formed relationship by relationship.” At the embassy, her role as part of the public diplomacy team was to describe Israel’s achievements in culture and technology.

The event became much more tragic when Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli Ambassador, announced the couple’s personal moment at a press conference. He bought the ring recently and his voice was shaky when he told me. “They had plans to fly to Jerusalem next week for him to propose.” Rather, their families will place their remains alongside each other in Israel.

There were many messages of condolence sent from government officials. Six months before, Israeli President Isaac Herzog had met the couple during a visit to the U.S. and called them “flowers of our people, plucked too soon.”

The statement by Gideon Sa’ar was, “He acted as a soldier and now he lies on the diplomatic battlefield.” The spokesperson said, “We stood at your wedding and now we are standing by your side as you lay to rest.”

Tributes online showed the world what they were like together: Yaron would add humor in tough meetings, Sarah enjoyed treating her coworkers with homemade pastries and both of them enjoyed hiking and indie music.

The embassy posted a picture on social media where Sarah and Yaron are seen smiling together, her head resting on his shoulder at a cultural event.

The incident has brought new attention to the safety of diplomats as worldwide tensions linked to the Israel-Hamas war increase. While there wasn’t any immediate proof that Rodriguez was working with bigger terror groups,

the event stressed the dangers to foreign service workers. Following Monday, Israeli security has beefed up measures and the US State Department promised to investigate to find any faults.

However, what sticks with me after all is the deep personal loss. Later, friends revealed pictures of recent messages from Sarah: “I’m so looking forward to showing you the cherry blossoms next spring!”

and a draft of Yaron’s proposal which was recorded on his computer. It reads somewhere: “With so much that’s wrong, you show me the parts worth mending.”

While their bodies are being taken to Israel, the flag at our embassy is lowered in half. Now the ring is only a reminder of the times we had, along with all we could have had but never did.