One of two Israeli embassy workers shot as they left an event, Sarah Milgrim worked for peace and against hate and antisemitism.
Two Israeli embassy employees killed at Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
The suspected shooter shouted “free Palestine!” upon his arrest at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
Ayelet Razin says the sudden and tragic death of Sarah Milgrim has left her not only mourning her dear friend but also increasingly alarmed and angry about antisemitism.
Authorities say Milgrim and her boyfriend, Yaron Lischinsky, were shot at about 9 p.m. as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The alleged shooter, identified as Elias Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago, yelled “Free Palestine! Free Palestine!” as he was taken into custody, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference. Investigators believe Rodriguez acted alone.
“It’s not my regular response to something like this, to do media interviews,” Razin said. “But if this isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what is.”
Milgrim helped coordinate meetings and discussions with Razin, an expert in international law and human rights, who previously served in Israel’s Ministry of Justice, as she worked on Capitol Hill and in Washington to influence U.S. policies on terrorism, accountability and gender-based violence. Milgrim had worked at the Israeli embassy since November 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The work – hearing and seeing testimony from victims of antisemitic and gender-based violence – can be traumatizing to even experienced experts, said Razin. But Milgrim “felt this is her role in all of this catastrophe that landed on us” in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Sarah Milgrim: ‘A light and an enlightened person’
Speaking to USA TODAY via Zoom from Israel, Razin called Milgrim “a light and an enlightened person,” someone whose presence could instantly lift the people around her.
“That was her most powerful armor: her wit, her intelligence and her maturity,” Razin said.
Milgrim, who held a master’s degree in international affairs from American University, a master’s in natural resources and sustainable development from The University for Peace and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Kansas, told Razin she’d joined the embassy staff in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack “after feeling a rise in antisemitism around her, something she hadn’t sensed before, or at least not as strongly.”
“The same antisemitism she decided to struggle against full-force brought her tragic end of life,” Razin said.
Razin said she did not know Lischinsky, but was grateful to hear that her friend was “very happy and in love.”
Smiling as she mourns
Asked how she wanted Sarah Milgrim to be remembered, Razin smiled.
“She entered a room and there was a glow, a shine, and that was her strongest force,” she said. “People listened to her. She’s calm, she was polite, and she used those tools to set the story right, to bring facts … She joined this team in the embassy to use her skills, her talent, not in acts of violence but in diplomacy.”
As for returning to Washington, D.C. now that her friend is gone, Razin said she would, but it would not feel the same ever again.
“We would meet in a coffee house across from the White House,” Razin said. “I can’t even imagine going back without her there, but if asked to, I will because it’s continuing her mission.”
Razin warned that more acts of violence against Jewish people and Israelis will occur if those who spread hate, antisemitism and violent rhetoric are not held fully accountable. She called the current rise in antisemitism, both in the U.S. and abroad, “a dangerous movement.”
“This is not a sporadic act of violence,” she said, pointing to the rising number of attacks on Jewish and Israeli people worldwide. “The strong antisemitic wave is being legitimized and normalized in the name of free speech. Not enough is being done. This is not the last murder. I am sure it will inspire others to do the same.”
Contributing: Melina Khan, USA TODAY