Young couple ‘in prime of their lives’: Israeli embassy staff shot dead in Washington DC were about to be engaged

A young couple working at the Israel’s embassy in Washington, who were about to become engaged, have been killed by a gunman who later shouted “Free Palestine”.

The two diplomats were attacked late on Wednesday night while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, police said.

The Israeli embassy published a photo on Thursday morning of the couple, identifying them as Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim.

Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador, said at the news conference that 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 is 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.

Mr 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 Mr 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, Mr Lischinsky said he was a staunch supporter of the Abraham Accords and an “advocate for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding”.

Mr Lischinsky’s girlfriend, Ms Milgrim, worked in the public diplomacy department at the embassy.

She moved to the US in November 2023 from Tel Aviv.

Before moving to the US, she spent a year working for an Israeli organisation, 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”.

Six months ago, the young couple met the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, during his trip to Washington DC. He was in the US for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a message on X on Thursday morning, Mr Herzog described Ms 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 Mr Lischinsky’s father, who said to him that his son 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.”