A Quiet Funeral in Israel for Victim of Washington Shooting

New York Times

25-05-2025

Weeks before, Yaron Lischinsky had made plans to travel to Israel on Sunday with his partner, Sarah Milgrim. He wanted to introduce her to his family for the first time and, relatives said, propose to her.
Instead, Mr. Lischinsky, 30, was laid to rest on Sunday at sunset, in a small cemetery a short walk from his family home in the village of Beit Zayit, nestled in the wooded hills west of Jerusalem.
Mr. Lischinsky and Ms. Milgrim, 26, were gunned down on Wednesday night outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington as they left a reception for young professionals and diplomats hosted by the American Jewish Committee.
The gunman, identified by the police as Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, cried out 'Free, free Palestine!' as he was being apprehended — a call heard in protests around the world against Israel and its war in Gaza, which was ignited by the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Mr. Rodriguez has been charged with the murder of foreign officials, first-degree murder and other crimes. The U.S. authorities said they would also be investigating the attack as a hate crime and a crime of terrorism.
For their part, Mr. Lischinsky, a research assistant in the political department at the Israeli Embassy, and Ms. Milgrim, who organized and worked with delegations, were both known as peace-seeking bridge-builders, according to their colleagues.
On Sunday, quiet prevailed over Beit Zayit, a community of about 1,600 residents with a store, a clinic and an outdoor library in a tiny pavilion. Residents of the town described the Lischinsky family as very private and modest people.
In keeping with the family's desire for privacy, the return to Israel of Mr. Lischinsky's remains and his funeral were unusually low-profile affairs, without media coverage.
Mr. Lischinsky's coffin arrived in Israel on Friday and was received by representatives of the family and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a brief, private ceremony at the airport, according to a statement from the ministry.
Israelis were outraged by the killing of Mr. Lischinsky and Ms. Milgrim but many said that amid the global rising tide of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment they saw such an attack coming.
'The people of Israel have been attacked for thousands of years,' said Israel Perel, 83, who moved to Beit Zayit five decades ago, seeking a home in nature.
'We won't give in to those who want to do us harm,' he said, speaking outside the community's small administrative center on Sunday afternoon. He had come looking for an Israeli flag to take with him to Mr. Lischinsky's funeral.
In the intense late afternoon heat, hundreds of people began to stream toward the cemetery in a pine forest on the edge of the village for the funeral scheduled for 6 p.m.
Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, attended the ceremony and gave one of the eulogies.
Mr. Lischinsky, an outstanding student who had grown up in Germany and Israel, was a deeply committed Israeli patriot and had aspired to become a professional diplomat for his country, according to his teachers and colleagues.
After his burial, his close family tarried by the fresh grave, covered in wreaths of flowers, until darkness fell as long lines of mourners embraced them and offered words of comfort, according to some people in attendance.
Mr. Lischinsky came from a culturally mixed background with a Jewish father and a Christian mother, and was a practicing Christian, according to his brother, Hanan Lischinsky, 32. People who had worked with Mr. Lischinsky in the embassy said that over his last two years there, he had identified as Jewish.
The funeral service blended religious traditions and elements. A leader of the Hebrew-speaking King of Kings congregation of Jerusalem — part of a Messianic community that says its mission is to reveal the true face of Jesus to Israel — officiated alongside representatives of the Orthodox Jewish burial society.
On Monday, Mr. Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, was expected to host U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in Jerusalem, followed by joint statements together with the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. Afterward, the foreign ministry said in a statement, a memorial ceremony would be held in honor of Mr. Lischinsky and Ms. Milgrim, and a tree would be planted in their memory.
Ms. Milgrim's funeral is scheduled to take place on Tuesday near the Kansas City suburb where she grew up.
Mr. Lischinsky's family never got to meet her.