House Republicans Condemn ‘Evil’ Murder Of Israeli Embassy Staffers: ‘Antisemitic Terrorism’

A group of over 50 House Republicans on Friday introduced a resolution condemning the murder of Israeli embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.

“This wasn’t just a tragedy, it was a targeted act of antisemitic terrorism carried out by a radical leftist,” Rep. Addison McDowell, who introduced the resolution, told The Daily Wire.

“Yaron and Sarah were murdered for being Jewish and for believing in peace. When a movement sympathizes with terrorists, we shouldn’t be surprised when that same movement produces actual terrorists.”

Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, was detained by police on suspicion of murdering Lischinsky, 30, and Milgrim, 26, on Wednesday night in Washington, D.C. The couple was shot at close range, and Milgrim was shot multiple times while crawling away, according to court documents. According to police, the terrorist told officers he “did it for Palestine.”

No Democrats signed on to the resolution.

Cosponsors of the bill include heavy hitters like Reps. Lisa McClain (R-MI), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), and Max Miller (R-OH), who is Jewish.

McDowell said she introduced the resolution to condemn growing antisemitism and to honor the lives of the slain couple.

TWO ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS MURDERED BY KEFFIYEH-WEARING MAN SHOUTING ‘FREE PALESTINE’ IN DC

“I want Congress to be on the record that it’s not just that antisemitism is evil, but also that the killer was part of an evil movement that seems to be growing in our country,” she said. “We can’t paper over that. We need to address it head on.”

The resolution, titled “Condemning Antisemitism and Remembering Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim,” identifies antisemitism as a “centuries-old form of hatred and discrimination that has led to immeasurable suffering, persecution, and loss of life, culminating most horrifically in the Holocaust, and continues to manifest in violence, vandalism, and policies targeting Jewish communities around the world.”

It cites the rise of antisemitic incidents in the United States, including attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools, museums, cultural centers, and individuals perceived as Jewish.

Sarah Milgrim, an American citizen and Israeli embassy staffer, was murdered on Wednesday night while attending an event with her boyfriend. The attacker has a history of anti-Israel and radical leftist rhetoric. (Photo: X)

Rodriguez was once affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a leftist group linked to Chinese Communist Party funding networks that have been repeatedly contacted by sanctioned Iranian state media, according to a report.

Milgrim and Lischinsky’s bodies are expected to arrive in Israel for burial on Friday. The families have requested privacy and that no media be present.

Sarah Milgrim’s father, who is an American Jew, said his daughter was dedicated to peace-building.

Robert Milgrim, 73, told the New York Post that his daughter was attending an event about getting more humanitarian aid to Gazans.

FRIENDS, FAMILY REACT TO MURDER OF ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS BY KEFFIYEH-WEARING TERRORIST

“Last night, she was attending an affair to figure out how to get more aid into Gaza,” Milgrim said. “The night she was killed, she was trying to help the situation — that’s the irony.”

Milgrim, who grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, was a full-time employee at the embassy’s Department of Public Diplomacy. She received her Master of Arts at American University and was also a graduate of the University for Peace.

The “About” section on her LinkedIn profile says her “passion lies at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work.”

Robert said his daughter spent multiple summers in Israel working with “peace-building groups” to mend the divide between Israelis and Arabs. He added that his daughter was supposed to travel to Israel on Sunday to meet Lischinsky’s family.

Yaron Lichinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered in Washington, D.C. Wednesday night. (Photo: Yaron Lichinsky/X)

“She was happier now than she ever was in her life,” Robert said. “She was truly in love with Yaron and vice versa.”

At a Wednesday night press conference, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Lischinsky and Milgrim were about to get engaged.

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“The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of free Palestine is a couple that was about to be engaged,” he said. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple who came to enjoy an evening in Washington’s cultural center.”

Lischinsky, 30, was a German-Israeli dual citizen and a devout evangelical Christian who immigrated to Israel at the age of 16 and served in the Israel Defense Forces. He studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was fluent in German, Hebrew, English, and Japanese.

He moved to work as a political analyst at the Israeli embassy in 2022.