Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, two staff members at the Israeli Embassy, were killed outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The young couple were not diplomats, but instead Lischinsky was a researcher in the political department of the Israeli Embassy, and Milgrim organized U.S. missions to Israel.
“The couple that was gunned down tonight were about to be engaged,” Yechiel Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the United States, said during the press conference. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing next week in Jerusalem.”
Two members of the Israeli embassy staff — a couple about to get engaged — were gunned down outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday in what the FBI believes may be a targeted attack.
X / Embassy of Israel to the USA / @IsraelinUSA
Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador in Germany and friend of Lischinsky, described the two victims as a “young couple with a bright future planning their life together.”
Here is what else we know about the young couple that was killed:
Yaron Lischinsky
Lischinsky, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany, was a Christian, and a “true lover of Israel” who “chose to dedicate his life to the State of Israel and the Zionist cause,” Prosor said on X.
The son of a Jewish father and a Christian-Evangelist mother, Lischinsky left Germany and came to Israel with his brother when he was 16 years old, according to Ronen Shoval, the head of the Argaman Institute for Conservative Studies in Jerusalem — where Lischinsky attended an advanced program. In his LinkedIn profile, Lischinsky wrote he had the “privilege of calling both Jerusalem and Nuremberg my home.”
“He was a man of faith, he took his Christian faith seriously. He was asking the big questions of life, and saw himself as someone who wants to be part of the story of the Jewish people,” Shoval told ABC News.
During his work the past two years as a research assistant at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., Lischinsky was responsible for “keeping the department up to date on important events in the Middle East & North Africa, conducting research on topics of interest to our diplomatic staff, liaison with other diplomatic missions, maintaining relationships with the local think tank community and helping to organize delegation visits from various Israeli ministries,” according to his LinkedIn profile.
He received a master’s degree in government, diplomacy and strategy from Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel, and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Asian studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, his profile said. He was fluent in English, Hebrew and German.
Lischinsky also served in the Israel Defense Forces for three years, Prosor said
Prosor described Lischinsky as “bright, curious, [and] engaged” and said he “embodied the Judeo-Christian values and set an example for young people worldwide.”
Shoval told ABC News that Lischinsky was “a mensch” and that he “searched for good and wanted to do good, and saw the good in Israel.”
Tributes are left at the Capital Jewish Museum, near the site where two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead, in Washington, May 22, 2025.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
Sarah Lynn Milgrim
Milgrim worked in the embassy’s department of public diplomacy for almost two years, beginning in November 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She described herself as a “dynamic professional,” saying her passion lies “at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement and environmental work,” her profile said. She was an American citizen, according to The Associated Press.
Before her time at the embassy, she worked in Tel Aviv for Tech2Peace, which “provides high-tech and entrepreneurial training alongside conflict dialogue to young Palestinians and Israelis,” according to its website.
Tech2Peace said in a statement on Thursday that Milgrim was a “devoted and active volunteer in our community” and was a “deeply curious person.”
“She brought people together with empathy and purpose, and her dedication to building a better future was evident in everything she did,” the organization said. “Her voice and spirit will be profoundly missed.”
Milgrim received two masters degrees — one in international affairs from American University and another in natural resources and sustainable development from the University of Peace in Costa Rica — and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Kansas, according to her profile.
KU Hillel, the University of Kansas’ Jewish community, said Milgrim’s friends described her as “the definition of the best person” and that she made “meaningful contributions that continue to resonate today.”
“Sarah’s bright spirit and passion for the Jewish community touched everyone fortunate enough to know her,” the group said in a statement on Thursday.
ABC News’ Dana Savir contributed to this report.
