Latest news with #YoungDiplomatsReception
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli Embassy Releases First Picture of Couple Killed in D.C. Shooting
The Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. has released the first image of two staffers killed during a shooting in the capital Wednesday night. The victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum—less than a mile from Capitol Hill—when they were approached by a man who brandished a handgun and shot them at around 9.15 p.m. local time. Chicago man Elias Rodriguez, 30, has been arrested. The suspect was heard to chant, 'Free, free Palestine' as he was detained inside the museum, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference. 'Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,' the embassy posted on X. 'This evening, a terrorist shot and killed them as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC. The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder.' The tribute continued: 'No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss. Our hearts are with their families, and the embassy will be by their side during this terrible time.' Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said at the news conference that Lischinsky had bought a ring and was preparing to propose to Milgrim next week in Jerusalem. The Times of Israel reports that the pair worked in the public diplomacy department of the embassy. Milgrim had a master's degree in international studies from American University, and a master's degree in natural resources and sustainable development from the United Nations University of Peace. Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said Lischinsky was a political analyst. The Times of Israel reported that he had a master's degree in Government, Diplomacy and Strategy from Reichman University and a bachelor's in International Relations from Hebrew University. Washington rabbi Levi Shemtov knew the couple. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme they were 'nice people, popular' people. Lischinsky was vocal about 'interfaith dialogue' and peace through negotiation. He wrote, in part, on LinkedIn: 'I'm an ardent believer in the vision that was outlined in the Abraham Accords and believe that expanding the circle of peace with our Arab neighbors and pursuing regional cooperation is in the best interest of the State of Israel and the Middle East as a whole.' The event they attended, organized by the American Jewish Committee, was about humanitarian aid in Gaza. The event, which the BBC reported was a cocktails evening, was called the Young Diplomats Reception. Organizer Jojo Kalin said: 'This event was about humanitarian aid. How can we actually help both the people in Gaza and the people in Israel? How can we bring together Muslims and Jews and Christians to work together to actually help innocent people? And then here he is just murdering two people in cold blood.' Kalin gave an insight into how the shooting occurred, saying that the suspect ran into the museum after the shooting and looked so 'distraught' that people thought he was a witness. He was offered water and aid but then 'whipped out his red Jordanian keffiyeh and he yells 'Free Palestine!'' Kalin said. President Donald Trump reacted to the news early on Thursday in a post on Truth Social. '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!' The killings took place shortly after Israeli forces, according to Al Jazeera, fired 'warning' shots in the direction of foreign diplomats visiting the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Around 38 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since dawn on Thursday, the publication claimed. Israeli forces, meanwhile, continue to block aid from entering the territory, according to the United Nations.
Yomiuri Shimbun
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
They Gathered to Turn ‘Pain into Purpose.' Then Gunfire Shattered Their Peace.
Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post A bystander prays while wearing an Israel flag with a cross in the middle, near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington on May 21. They had gathered in a D.C. museum lobby to hear stories of hope and action. A young aid worker with the Multifaith Alliance, perched beside a vase of white flowers, spoke about efforts to save lives in war-ravaged Gaza. Her group, founded by the daughter of Holocaust survivors, is run by a Syrian refugee, and their success has hinged on building trust in terrible situations. 'As you leave here this evening, please continue to think about tonight's conversation,' said one of the hosts, Sue Stolov, as the program in the Capital Jewish Museum wound down. 'Share what you learned here with friends and colleagues so the impact will ripple like water outward to others.' Then, as some in the crowd began to depart the Wednesday night reception, a man in a hooded coat, who had been lingering outside, trying to light a cigarette in the rain, followed them and pointed a 9mm semiautomatic. He squeezed the trigger – again and again. Then, in the chaos, he went into the museum. 'I did it for Gaza!' witnesses would recall him saying later. 'Free, free Palestine!' The suspected gunman, authorities said, was 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, a medical clerical worker from Chicago who had traveled to Washington for job-related meetings and is now charged with two counts of first-degree murder and murdering foreign officials. Investigators said they are exploring a possible link between him and social media posts accusing Israel of genocide. The couple killed, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, both employees of the Israeli Embassy who had attended the Young Diplomats Reception at the museum, were planning to move in together in July, friends said. They said Lischinsky, who had purchased an engagement ring, intended to propose to Milgrim on a forthcoming trip to Jerusalem. As the lights of emergency vehicles strobed red and blue through the windows of the building, many who remained in the museum were unaware of the horror outside. There was still the glow of possibility after an inspiring night. Even when Rodriguez, in a blue blazer, with his trimmed beard and sneakers, rushed breathlessly into the lobby after the killings and settled on a bench, his presence wasn't immediately alarming. He looked like a 'normal person that you walk by on the street,' one woman would say later, though he also began muttering for someone to call the police. This account of Wednesday's tragedy – how an evening suffused with aspirations for peace suddenly dissolved, in the span of a muzzle flash, into unspeakable violence that echoed around the globe – is based on numerous interviews, statements by police and government officials, and publicly available court records. It left JoJo Drake Kalin, one of the organizers of the reception, freighted with grief as she told a reporter the following day: 'It's not lost on me the deep irony that such hatred and depravity happened on a night when we were standing in the utter opposite of that. Gathering in the spirit of peace The day before the shooting, Rodriguez, who was once affiliated with the far-left Party for Socialism and Liberation, had left his apartment on a leafy block of century-old courtyard buildings and classic Chicago two-flats in the East Albany Park neighborhood of the Northwest Side. Authorities said he was headed to Washington for meetings related to his job, verifying physicians' information for the American Osteopathic Information Association, which had two professional events scheduled for Wednesday in the nation's capital. He checked in for his United Airlines flight at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, and authorities said his gun was in his luggage in the cargo hold. The same day, with Rodriguez arriving at Reagan National Airport, Milgrim and Lischinsky submitted their application for an apartment near the Israeli Embassy in Northwest Washington, where they first met. Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, was a research assistant in the political department and Milgrim, who grew up near Kansas City, Kansas, organized missions and visits to Israel. He was an aspiring diplomat, multilingual and quietly intellectual, an amateur photographer and soccer player; she was an environmentalist, a dog lover, a violinist, a former child vocalist in the chorus of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. With Milgrim's old goldendoodle, Andy, the couple was on the cusp of a life together. An act of grievous self-harm outside the embassy last year had captivated Rodriguez's imagination, authorities said. Aaron Bushnell, who was on active duty with the U.S. Air Force, doused his clothing with a flammable liquid and fatally set himself ablaze, shouting, 'Free Palestine!' Bushnell had declared in a video that he did not want to be 'complicit in genocide' – and Rodriguez, after his arrest, would tell police that the self-immolation had been courageous, that Bushnell was a martyr, according to court documents in Rodriguez's case. On Wednesday, about three hours before the Young Diplomats Reception was set to begin, authorities said, Rodriguez got a ticket to the event. It remains unclear how he learned of it. The gathering, hosted by the young professionals division of the American Jewish Committee, was the sort of get-together that Lischinsky and Milgrim, described by friends as warm and outgoing, routinely attended. The committee is a nonprofit organization that works to counter antisemitism and promote peace and security for Israel. The theme of the reception was 'turning pain into purpose,' and a panel discussion would include IsraAID, a nongovernmental humanitarian group headquartered in Tel Aviv, as well as the Multifaith Alliance. As a security measure, organizers didn't advertise the location. 'Shared upon registration' was all they said. At the request of organizers, four guards were armed at the museum, rather than one as usual. About an hour and a half before the reception, Milgrim was walking along a street, chatting by phone with Joshua Maxey, executive director of Bet Mishpachah, an LGBTQ+ synagogue in Washington. The two were finalizing plans for an evening of prayer and dinner scheduled for next month to celebrate LGBTQ+ Jews during the city's WorldPride celebration, Maxey said. Milgrim told Maxey that she didn't want to leave any work for him or her colleagues before she departed with Lischinsky for Jerusalem – for the trip on which Lischinsky meant to propose marriage. It was just past 5 p.m. when Maxey and Milgrim said goodbye. He remembered telling her, 'I hope I get to see your smiling face on Friday,' before her flight to Jerusalem 'I did it for Gaza' The Capital Jewish Museum is a glass-and-brick symbol of resilience. A historic synagogue that is integrated into the modern museum complex was lifted up and moved from the city's Chinatown neighborhood in the 1960s, then relocated twice more in the decades afterward. The U.S. Capitol is within sight of the museum's terrace. Diplomats from 30 countries had signed up to attend the reception, and when Wednesday evening arrived, congressional staffers and emissaries from Japan, Australia, Bahrain and other nations milled about the atrium lobby, ordering from an open bar and savoring smoked eggplant, Israeli pearled couscous and za'atar salmon. Ran Goldstein, representing IsraAID, said his group serves as an intermediary in Gaza, trying 'to understand both sides while working according to humanitarian principles.' Milgrim and Lischinsky approached him afterward, chatting about colleagues they had in common. As the reception neared its end, one of the organizers gave Milgrim a hug, and they promised they'd get coffee soon. Then JoJo Kalin rode in an elevator to an upper floor, accompanying a friend to a museum exhibit on Washington's vibrant gay Jewish scene, which includes a 'Mr. Nice Jewish Boy D.C. 2019' sash from a local pageant and Jewish drag queen Ester Goldberg's sparkling purple dress. Outside, Milgrim and Lischinsky stood on a corner, waiting to cross a street, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit filed in court. In the damp night, Rodriguez walked past them, then turned and looked at them from behind, according to the agent, Christina Hagenbaugh. He can be seen on surveillance video taking a shooter's stance, arms extended toward the young couple, before he opened fire, Hagenbaugh wrote. After the two collapsed to the pavement, Rodriguez moved closer, the affidavit says. It says he leaned over them and pulled the trigger again. As Milgrim tried to crawl away, Rodriguez followed her and continued shooting, stopping only to reload, according to the agent. When Milgrim sat up, the affidavit says, he fired yet again, repeatedly. Evidence technicians would count 21 spent shells on the ground. Video shows Rodriguez then jogging toward the museum entrance, and a witness saw him toss away the pistol, according to court documents. Guests inside heard the crack of the shots, and there was some concern but no hysteria, attendees said. Some dismissed the sound, ascribing it to an obscure disturbance in the city, unconnected to them, while others moved elsewhere in the building for safety. Entering the museum, Rodriguez plopped down on a bench, said Paige Siegel, an attendee. He had been let in with others who had stepped outside, the lawyer said. She said Rodriguez kept talking about calling the police. Kalin was headed down from the museum exhibit, and, when the elevator doors opened, friends told her there had been gunshots. And she saw Rodriguez on the bench, disheveled and pale. Kalin assumed that he had been caught in the commotion outside, and she felt obligated as an organizer to care for a man who seemed unwell. 'I'm so sorry this happened,' she told him. 'Are you okay?' She approached a bartender, who was starting to pack up, and returned with a cup of ice water. As she passed it to Rodriguez, she said, their hands brushed, and she could feel his sweat. Meanwhile, as organizers guided guests to a far side of the lobby, away from the windows and glass doors, Kalin's husband, Yoni River Kalin, pushed his way back toward the entrance, where he saw Rodriguez, now standing up in his blue blazer, his white shirt untucked. 'He said, 'I'm unarmed,'' Yoni Kalin recalled. 'And then he said, 'I did it.' And then he said, 'I did it for Gaza.'' And he began chanting what sounded to Kalin like a mantra. 'Free, free Palestine!' Kalin recalled him saying. 'Intifada, revolution, there is only one solution.' Rodriguez dropped his red and white cloth kaffiyeh, the headscarf seen as a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Kalin bent to pick it up and tried handing it back as an officer grabbed Rodriguez. 'This event was focused on humanity,' Yoni Kalin said. 'I wanted to show him respect as a human.' 'Free, free Palestine!' Rodriguez shouted as he was led away. 'From Hamas!' Yoni Kalin retorted. In the moment, the Kalins and others thought Rodriguez was merely another disruptive protester. They still didn't know that anyone had been killed. While Rodriguez was in custody, authorities said, a post appeared on the social media platform X bearing the name 'Elias Rodriguez,' accusing Israel of 'genocide' and declaring that 'a perpetrator' might be a good person sometimes 'and yet be a monster all the same.' It was titled, 'Escalate for Gaza, Bring the War Home.' At the museum, some guests were taken upstairs to be interviewed; others lined up to talk with police outside the gift shop. Getting texts while they waited, the depth of the tragedy started to become clear. As detectives questioned them, a woman in yellow heels pressed her face into her hands. Soon, countless people the world over would feel her grief. 'I don't want their deaths to be in vain, and I don't want this to just further alienate us,' JoJo Kalin said the next day. 'If people who experienced and witnessed this hate crime can walk away with their humanity still intact and still feel undeterred,' she said, 'I hope that inspires others to not lose sight of their humanity.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
For U.S. Jews, D.C. Museum Killings Deepen Resolve — and Fear
Valerie Plesch/For The Washington Post People gather outside the White House on Thursday night during a vigil for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. They were shot and killed on Wednesday after attending a 'Young Diplomats Reception' hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. For Rabbi Ruth Balinsky Friedman, who teaches Jewish text at a D.C.-area high school, the killings of two Israeli Embassy workers this week have deepened the isolation she's felt as an American Jew in recent years. Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's subsequent attacks on Gaza, followed by divisions around the world over what caused the conflict and who was at fault, left the 40-year-old mother of three feeling confused, with no easy solution to the war in sight. Now, after the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, she feels similarly disoriented. 'Where do we as a people belong?' she said. 'Where do I belong?' And if Jews belong in America, 'why are people shooting us in broad daylight?' Late Wednesday evening, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were shot after attending a Young Diplomats Reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. The alleged shooter shouted 'Free, free Palestine' before police took him into custody. For many Jewish Americans across the country, the shooting near the D.C. museum has reinforced a sense that they're unsafe – not safe to wear a yarmulke and not safe to go into Jewish institutional buildings, no matter how much is spent on security. For others, the attack on the young couple fueled their strength and confidence – in their faith, in their connection to Israel, in their visible Jewishness. And for yet others, May 21 was just another sad, complicated day to be an American Jew. The Jewish community has invested many millions in securing its buildings. What does it mean, Friedman said, that people could still be murdered right on the sidewalk? She felt 'tremendous sadness' after 'seeing the tragic loss of life and in such a senseless way,' she said. The couple was attending an event about humanitarian causes, including Gaza, she noted. 'They were fighting for the thing this shooter thought he was supporting.' According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans saying there is 'a lot of discrimination' against Jews rose from 20 percent in 2021 to 40 percent in early 2024. Among Jewish Americans, 72 percent said Jews face a lot of discrimination – up from 48 percent in 2020. A 2024 University of Miami/NORC poll found 7 percent of U.S. Jews reported being physically threatened or attacked because they are Jewish since the Oct. 7 attacks, while 39 percent said they had heard colleagues or neighbors make slurs or jokes about Jews. 'I do show up boldly and proudly Jewish,' said Risa Borsykowsky, 58, of Long Island, who owns the Jewish Gift Place. Since the attacks of 2023, she wears a Star of David necklace, even though she is hesitant about it. 'I'm thinking, am I nuts for wearing this? I feel like I am putting myself out there as a target for verbal and physical abuse,' Borsykowsky said. The shooting in D.C. left her feeling 'rage and absolute outrage,' she said. But she refuses to change her day-to-day life in response, Borsykowsky said. That is her way of pushing back against anti-Israel college campus protests she calls 'antisemitic,' and against misinformation online that she believes has created an environment where antisemitism thrives. Those things 'just create such hatred for Israel and the Jewish people that it leads to crimes like what happened' Wednesday night, Borsykowsky said. 'It's scary. It's scary to me as a Jewish person.' Jeremy Krashin of Kansas said he was 'very shaken' by the attacks. 'It hurts. It feels like it could be your kids.' But Krashin, 43, said his family's response to the shooting will be to become more – not less – visible as Jews. Milgrim, one of the two Israeli Embassy workers gunned down in D.C., attended Shawnee Mission East High School a few miles from Krashin's home in Overland Park, Kansas. They had both graduated from the University of Kansas. 'We are increasing our involvement in the Jewish community. We're doing things like flying the Israeli flag outside of our house, going to synagogue and Jewish events more often. Just keeping our Jewish identity top of mind,' he said. 'We know there is a constant threat against us, and we are not cowering in fear.' Some Jewish Americans said they were drawing on lessons from previous attacks on their community. In 2022, a man with a gun and explosives held four people, including a rabbi, hostage at Congregation Beth Israel, a Dallas-area synagogue. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was the leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville and among those held for 11 hours. The man repeated antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. comments during the ordeal, he said. Since the incident in 2022, and the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, his approach has remained the same, Cytron-Walker said: Focus on relationship-building. Focus on the positive. Focus on the concrete. 'I still don't believe we're in a situation where we as a Jewish community should panic. To the best of our knowledge, violent rhetoric is dangerous, but [the D.C. shooting] appears to be an individual situation and incident,' he said in an interview. Security costs at Jewish institutions have already risen 'eight- or nine- or tenfold' since the Oct. 7 attacks, he said. 'The number one point I've tried to make … is that we can't fight antisemitism alone. That's our reality,' he said. 'If only Jews are fighting against antisemitism, we've lost.' Local leaders and faraway friends reached out to Cytron-Walker as news of the D.C. shootings spread, he said. 'This is traumatic for Jewish communities through the country. The same way Palestinian people need love and support along with humanitarian aid, the same way as the Israeli public has been crying out for the return of hostages and an end to war. That's the kind of love and support we need right now.' It is too early to draw conclusions about the D.C. shooting, said Rabbi Nancy Kasten, a Dallas-area interfaith activist who knows people who were held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in 2022 and others who attend the synagogue. Her worry, she said, was that politicians would use the museum killings as an excuse to limit free speech. 'I do not see that those tactics have worked in the past and don't know why we would think they could work to keep Jews, Israelis or anyone else safer in the future,' she said. For now, she is focusing on an event she's been planning, titled 'Two Peoples, One Land: What Americans Can Do to Promote Peace in Israel and Palestine.' However, she said, 'I wonder how it will fall now.' The shooting at the D.C. museum was tragic, said Joseph Landson, 56, a Navy veteran from Springfield, Virginia. 'It's a horrible time' to be Jewish in America, he said. The killings were 'just another in an unending string of anti-Israel attacks. Notice I wrote anti-Israel. I really don't consider the attack antisemitic. New data could change my mind,' Landson said. Landson, who can't work because of chronic disease, said he attempts to balance supporting Israel – but not unconditionally. While he tries, he wrote The Post, to walk a middle ground, 'it feels like moderation is becoming impossible.'
NDTV
23-05-2025
- NDTV
Israeli Embassy Staff Shot In US: How It Unfolded
United States: Elias Rodriguez faces murder and other charges after allegedly gunning down two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. Here's how events unfolded, per the criminal complaint and law enforcement authorities: Rodriguez, 31, traveled to Washington from Chicago on Tuesday with a legally purchased gun in his checked baggage. He was in town to attend a work conference. On Wednesday evening, the American Jewish Committee hosted a mixer at the Capital Jewish Museum. The Young Diplomats Reception went until 9 pm (0100 GMT Thursday) and aimed to "bring together Jewish young professionals and the DC diplomatic community." At 9:08 pm, Metropolitan Police responded to reports of a shooting. Officers found Israeli embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim had been shot. Surveillance video showed a person wearing clothing consistent with Rodriguez's appearance approach the museum, where the victims were standing outside and preparing to enter a crosswalk. The suspect walked past Lischinsky and Milgrim, then turned to shoot them in their backs, "firing several times," the complaint said. "Once the decedents fell to the ground, Rodriguez is captured on video advancing closer... leaning over them... and firing several more times," the complaint said. Rodriguez reloaded and fired several more times. 21 bullets He was then seen "jogging" in the direction of the museum entrance. A witness told police he saw Rodriguez throw something, and police recovered a gun from the area. When police arrived, Rodriguez said "he 'did it' and that he was unarmed." Rodriguez had a red keffiyeh and "spontaneously stated on scene to MPD, 'I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed.'" He shouted "Free Palestine" as police arrested him. At 9:14 pm, Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen and an "official guest" of the US government, was pronounced dead on the scene from gunshot wounds. At 9:35 pm, Milgrim, an American employed by the Israeli embassy, was transported from the scene and pronounced dead after suffering multiple gunshot wounds. Forensic analysis revealed Rodriguez fired 21 bullets from a 9 mm handgun, which he purchased legally in Illinois in 2020. During an interview with police, Rodriguez expressed admiration for Aaron Bushnell, the former US serviceman who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, calling him a "martyr." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Who were the victims of the shooting outside the DC Jewish Museum?
Two individuals were fatally shot Wednesday outside the Capital Jewish Museum after attending the American Jewish Committee's annual Young Diplomats Reception. Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were both staffers with the Israeli Embassy. Lischinsky was purportedly preparing to propose to Milgrim in Jerusalem in the coming weeks. Both advocates for international service and the U.S.-Israeli relationship, they were well known by the Israeli-American political community in the city. Milgrim, 26, worked in the Israeli Embassy's Department of Public Diplomacy after being hired in November 2023, according to her LinkedIn. Prior to joining the staff, the United States Institute of Peace granted her a certificate in Religious Engagement in Peacebuilding and Skills for Effective Negotiations. Milgrim was a world traveler who studied conflict on the ground in countries across the globe. She received a master's degree from American University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas. In 2020, she joined the Tata Institute of Social Sciences on a trip to Mumbai, India, to learn how social, economic and political systems stratify social welfare by visiting several social service agencies. Milgrim was slated to travel to Jerusalem next week, where Lischinsky planned to propose to her. 'Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,' the Israeli Embassy said in a statement following her death. 'The entire embassy staff [is] heartbroken and devastated by their murder. No words can express the depth of our grief and horror at this devastating loss,' it added. Lischinsky, 30, served as a political analyst for the Israel Foreign Ministry at the Embassy of Israel, according to his LinkedIn. He openly supported aid disbursement to residents in Gaza amid the conflict while championing Israeli efforts to bring an end to Hamas. Lischinsky served as a soldier in the Israeli military for three years before taking up research positions based in Israel. 'This week @IsraelinUSA marked Israel's 77th Independence Day, a day filled with deep personal and national meaning,' Lischinsky wrote in a celebratory social media post in early May. 'On Independence Day, we celebrate the miracle of the Jewish people returning to their ancestral homeland after 2000 years,' he added. Lischinsky obtained his bachelor's degree in international relations and Asian studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in addition to a master's degree from Reichman University in government, diplomacy and strategy. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
