A couple working at Israel’s embassy in Washington D.C. who were killed by a gunman were about to become engaged.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were attacked late on Wednesday night while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, police said. The suspect was heard shouting ‘Free Palestine’ after he was arrested by cops.
Diplomat Lischinsky, 30, was days away from proposing to his 26-year-old girlfriend, with embassy colleagues explaining he had already bought the ring.
Tributes have poured in for the pair after the Israeli embassy published a photo of them Thursday morning.
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What do we know about the victims?
Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter said at a news conference the two people killed were a couple about to be engaged.
“The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” he said.
“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,” the embassy said later in a statement. “The entire embassy staff [are] heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss.”
The pair had been attending an American Jewish Committee event at the Capital Jewish Museum, described online as a “Young Diplomats Reception”. The event was intended to bring together young Jewish professionals between the ages of 22 and 45.
Lischinsky was described as a “clever and inspiring person” by a friend, while Milgrim was a curious person with an “unwavering belief” in peace and equality, according to her former employer.
Friends, colleagues and Israel’s most senior officials are lamenting the loss of two promising young diplomats who appeared committed to interfaith dialogue and peaceful coexistence.
Linchinsky was part of his university’s Model United Nations team in 2019, traveling to Paris in June of that year to meet embassy officials.
He was also voted delegate of the week. In his acceptance statement, he described the importance of providing “a platform for multilateral cooperation between countries”.
Lischinsky worked as a research assistant for Middle East & North African Affairs in the embassy’s political department, according to his LinkedIn page. He moved from Jerusalem in September 2022.
A friend who studied with Lischinsky at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem described him as “one of the most inspiring and clever individuals” he had met in a post on the social media site.
In a post on LinkedIn, Lischinsky said he was a staunch supporter of the Abraham Accords and an “advocate for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding”.
Lischinsky’s girlfriend, Milgrim, worked in the public diplomacy department at the embassy. She moved to the U.S. in November 2023 from Tel Aviv.
Before that she spent a year working for an Israeli organization, Tech2Peace, committed to improving dialogue and relations between Palestinians and Israelis. She described herself on her LinkedIn page as focused on “fostering understanding between different peoples”.
In a tribute post uploaded on Instagram, Tech2Peace described Milgrim as a “deeply curious person” who held an “unwavering belief in dialogue, peace, and equality”.
“Sarah was a deeply curious person, always seeking to learn and connect,” they added. “She brought people together with empathy and purpose, and her dedication to building a better future was evident in everything she did. Her voice and spirit will be profoundly missed.”
Six months ago, the young couple met the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, during his trip to Washington. He was in the U.S. for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a message on X on Thursday morning, Herzog described Milgrim and her partner as “flowers of our people who were plucked just before they were supposed to get engaged and build a life together”.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Thursday that he had spoken to Lischinsky’s father. Sa’ar said he told the father Lischinsky was “a warrior on our diplomatic front that fell just like a soldier in the battlefield”.
Tal Naim, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington and a friend of the couple, said she and the two young diplomats had been “laughing together by the coffee corner” on Wednesday morning. “Now,” she added, “all that remains is a picture.”
She said: “Instead of walking you down the aisle, we are walking with you to your graves. What an unbearable loss.”
