The Israeli Embassy staff members killed near Washington DC’s Jewish Museum were commemorated as a deeply devoted couple in the peak of their lives.
Yaron Lischinsky,28, had secretly bought an engagement ring to propose to girlfriend Sarah Milgrim just days before they were shot to death.
Authorities have charged Elias Rodriguez, a 31-year-old from Chicago, Illinois, with attacking the couple as they exited an American Jewish Committee event on Wednesday night.
After he was arrested, the alleged killer was caught on video screaming, “Free Palestine.”
Both Milgrim and Lischinsky were employed at the Israeli Embassy at the time of their deaths. Milgrim was responsible for organizing missions for Jewish individuals in America, while Lischinsky worked as a research assistant.
On Sunday, the couple was set to fly to Jerusalem, where Milgrim, who was an American, was going to meet Israel-native Lischinsky’s family.
She didn’t know that her boyfriend of a year and a half was going to propose at some point during the trip.
Milgrim’s parents, who live outside Kansas City, Missouri, had met Lischinsky several times and described him as an “incredible” man who was devoted to their daughter.
“He was very much like Sarah: passionate, extremely intelligent, dedicated to what he does, always on the cause of what’s right,” her dad Robert told the New York Times.
Tal Naim Cohen, a spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy, mourned the loss of the couple and described witnessing their affection for one another just hours before their deaths.
“Yaron and Sarah, words cannot begin to describe the heartbreak and sorrow,” she wrote on X.
“Just this morning, we were still laughing together by the coffee corner – and now, all that remains is a picture.
“Instead of walking you down the aisle, we are walking with you to your graves. What an unbearable loss.”
In a statement released by the Embassy, the two were described as being in the “prime of their lives.”
“The entire embassy staff is heartbroken and devastated by their murder,” the statement said.
“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.”
