26-05-2025
Ex-terrorism suspect's disturbing four-word message from Australia after two Israeli diplomats were assassinated outside a Jewish museum in the US
A former Australian terrorism suspect has come under fire since after he shared a comment celebrating the assassination of two Israeli embassy staff in the US.
Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and his girlfriend Sarah Milgrim, 26, were shot dead by Elias Rodriguez outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington on Thursday morning.
Within hours of the attack, a number of Australian commentators took to social media to refocus criticism away from the terror attack towards Israel 's activities in Gaza.
In response to a video posted by the Australian Jewish Association which depicted the alleged murderer yelling: 'Free Palestine', former terror suspect Zaky Mallah commented: 'good riddance. Palestine forever.'
Mallah was the first man charged with terrorism under laws introduced by the Howard government.
While Mallah was found not guilty of preparing a 2003 suicide attack on a Sydney Commonwealth building, he pleaded guilty to a separate charge of threatening a Commonwealth official.
Chief executive of the Australian Jewish Association Robert Gregory told Daily Mail Australia Mallah's comments evidenced an ongoing radicalisation within the anti-Israel movement.
'There is something deeply wrong with anyone who celebrates the cold-blooded murder of a young couple,' he said.
'Given Mr Mallah's background, it is reasonable to hope that law enforcement is monitoring him closely. The last thing Australia needs is for the violent hatred seen overseas to spill onto our streets.'
Australian feminist author Clementine Ford shared a post following the incident which described the killing as 'less newsworthy than tens of thousands of Palestinians being killed in Israel's genocidal land grab'.
She shared another post which claimed Mr Lischinsky was not Jewish but rather a 'crazed Christian Zionist freak who volunteered to serve the Israeli rape-army and then did propaganda for them at the embassy.
'This makes calling this an anti-Semitic attack doubly deranged and actually the height of anti-Semitism by conflating Israel and non-Jewish Israelis with all Jews,' the post continued.
Mr Gregory criticised the posts.
'With the volume of hatred that Clementine Ford spreads, it is astounding that she is still welcome anywhere and that publishers and bookstores are not embarrassed to carry her work,' he said.
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame also took to social media in the wake of the attack to condemn media reports she claimed inappropriately portrayed the incident as antisemitic.
'It's despicable, and nothing short of journalistic malpractice, that the media class is scrambling to reframe the shooting that targeted two Israeli state officials as a random anti-Semitic attack,' she wrote.
Mr Gregory said Tame's attempt to 'downplay the antisemitic motives' behind the attack were an 'affront to victims and survivors'
'Grace Tame has once more demonstrated that she was a terrible choice for Australian of the Year.
'When a young couple is murdered at a Jewish event, outside a Jewish museum, in the name of anti-Israel extremism, the context is undeniable.'
Israel identified Mr Lischinsky as an Israeli citizen who worked alongside his girlfriend Ms Milgrim, a US citizen, at the Israeli embassy.
Mr Lischinsky had recently purchased an engagement ring and had been preparing to propose.
'If a person can't condemn the point blank execution of a young couple outside a Jewish community gathering, they should say nothing at all,' co-chief executive of the Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin told Daily Mail Australia.
The attacks came amid a wave of increased international scrutiny towards Israel over its total blockade on aid entering Gaza, which it partly eased in recent days.
Israel has recently stepped up its military campaign in Gaza, including more than 100 air targeted strikes on Saturday.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong swiftly condemned the killings in a post to X in which she wrote: 'There is no place for antisemitism in the world'.
FBI director Kash Patel labelled the killing an 'act of terror'.
It was not the first time Tame had criticised Israel's actions in Gaza. On May 16, she appeared at a Feminist in the Time of Gaza forum in Melbourne's Federation Square.
In an Instagram post last year, she wrote: 'It's hard not to feel dispirited, disgusted and downright enraged this IWD.
'We're watching an accelerated genocide unfold before our eyes in Gaza, where innocent women and children account for around 70 per cent of the rising death toll.
'Many of our so-called leaders with the power and platforms to act are inert and apathetic.'
