Was:
Two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead late Wednesday outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine.” The two victims, a man and a woman, were leaving an event at the Museum when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, authorities said.
Israeli Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, informed that the two people killed were a young couple about to be engaged, saying the man had purchased a ring this week with the intent to propose next week in Jerusalem.
Spokesperson at the Israeli embassy in Washington, Tal Naim Cohen, said Israel has “full faith in law enforcement authorities on both the local and federal levels to apprehend the shooter and protect Israel’s representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States.”
World Reacts
Top US and Israeli leadership, including President Donald Trump, expressed shock and outrage over the killings. Condemning the attack, Trump said, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!”
“Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said authorities would “track down those responsible” for the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers. “This was a brazen act of cowardly, antisemitic violence. Make no mistake: we will track down those responsible and bring them to justice,” he posted on X.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was at the scene with former judge Jeanine Pirro, who serves as the US attorney in Washington and whose office would prosecute the case.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “devastated” by the scenes in Washington.
“This is a despicable act of hatred, of antisemitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy. Our hearts are with the loved ones of those murdered and our immediate prayers are with the injured. I send my full support to the Ambassador and all the embassy staff,” he said.
He added, “We stand with the Jewish community in DC and across the US. America and Israel will stand united in defence of our people and our shared values. Terror and hate will not break us.”
The shooting comes as Israel has launched a new campaign targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip in a war that has set tensions aflame across the wider Middle East. The war began with the Palestinian group Hamas coming out of Gaza on October 7, 2023, to kill 1,200 people and take some 250 hostages back to the coastal enclave.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations also reacted to the killings, calling them a”depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism”.
“Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line. We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act,” Ambassador Danny Danon wrote on X.