Yaron Lischinsky, 30, had planned to propose to his girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, this June in Jerusalem. It would have been their first visit to meet with his family, who immigrated to the Jewish state when he was 16 and live in the nearby Moshav of Beit Zayit. Yaron and Sarah met while working together at the Israeli embassy in Washington DC, and the young man, who, like his partner, was passionate about diplomacy, had reportedly picked out an engagement ring just this week and shared his plans with his co-workers.
Now, instead of celebrating that joyful occasion, the binding of these two idealistic and hard-working young souls, Lischinsky and Milgrim’s families have to make funeral arrangements after the two were fatally shot outside of a young professionals event organized by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC in which organizations by a man who, upon being handcuffed, yelled “free, free Palestine.”
Look at their faces. The war in Gaza is not responsible for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim’s murder-only their murderer is. Sarah Milgrim, 26, and Yaron Lischinsky, 38, were passionate peace activists. Yaron was actually a Christian, born in Germany, who immigrated to Israel… pic.twitter.com/ODPiZRxf2U
— Montana Tucker (@montanatucker) May 22, 2025
Two weeks ago, in an Independence Day event of the embassy, where the couple was photographed smiling together, Einav Hadari, the deputy spokesperson of the embassy, started a conversation with Milgrim, who spoke of her upcoming visit to Israel. “I asked her if she was expecting to come back with a ring and she answered ‘I wish,'” Hadari recalled. Lischinsky then joined the conversation, telling Hadari how much he was looking forward to the visit. “Who could have known? Who would have believed? I’m heart broken, shocked and grieving,” Hadari said following their tragic murder.
Sarah Milgrim cared deeply about the intertwining futures of both Israelis and Palestinians. She worked for Tech2Peace, an organization that, according to its website, “provides high-tech and entrepreneurial training alongside conflict dialogue to young Palestinians and Israelis.” There, she conducted, according to her LinkedIn page, “comprehensive research on peacebuilding theory, emphasizing grassroots initiatives in the Israeli-Palestinian region.”
“Sarah was a deeply curious person, always seeking to learn and connect. She brought people together with empathy and purpose, and her dedication to building a better future was evident in everything she did. Her voice and spirit will be profoundly missed,” the Tech2Peace team shared this Thursday.
“Sarah Milgrim was so much more than someone about to be engaged. She served on the civil society team at the Embassy of Israel, dedicating her life and career to building bridges. In Israel, she worked to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Sheila Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, posted on X. “In the United States, she brought people together across political divides and was always a fierce advocate for uplifting women. I’m going to miss her deeply—and so will my entire team.”
“The ironic part is that we were worried for our daughter’s safety in Israel,” Milgrim’s father, Robert, told the New York Times. “But she was murdered three days before going.” He also told the New York Post that the event she was attending that night was a panel whose goal was to figure out how to get aid into Gaza.
“What went through my mind is, I feel the antisemitism that has surfaced since Oct. 7 and also since the election of President Trump,” Milgrim told the Times. “It’s just an extension of my worst fears.” He also talked about Lischinsky, who he called “incredible… He was very much like Sarah: passionate, extremely intelligent, dedicated to what he does, always on the cause of what’s right.”
It wasn’t the first time that Milgrim experienced antisemitism. Growing up in the Prairie Village suburb of Kansas City, she was a young girl when a shooting took place at Overland Park’s Jewish Community Center that killed three people in 2014. When she was a student in high school, swastikas were sprayed in a building of her Prairie Village School.
“It’s so ignorant that you could bring up a symbol that brings so much pain to so many people,” Milgrim told a local news reporter at the time. “I worry about going to my synagogue, and now I have to worry about safety at my school. And that shouldn’t be a thing.”
“Our beloved community has been struck by devastating tragedy,” Rabbi Stephanie Kramer of Congregation B’Nai Jehudah in Kansas City, wrote in a newsletter. “Each and every time we saw Bob and Nancy Milgrim, they kvelled and beamed with joy and pride about Sarah’s work and her steadfast devotion to Judaism and to Israel. Her commitment wasn’t just professional; it was deeply personal, rooted in her upbringing, her values and her unshakable identity.”
“Sarah grew up in our community,” Kramer continued. “She celebrated with us, learned with us and inspired us with her integrity and purpose. She stood for something larger than herself and she paid the ultimate price for it.”
Similar tributes to Lischinsky have been pouring in since Wednesday night. “Yaron Lischinsky was the finest friend I’ve ever had, brilliant, kind, and endlessly thoughtful. A devout Christian and a gifted linguist, he spoke German, Hebrew, and Japanese. He was full of curiosity and always brimming with ideas. I don’t think we ever had a conversation that didn’t leave me inspired to write something new,” the writer Zineb Riboua shared on X. “He loved America. He was excited about the future, about finally visiting Texas, and about the life he and his beloved fiancée were building together. I was supposed to meet her today. They are both gone. And the loss is immeasurable. The world has lost two extraordinary souls. And I have lost a dear friend who made every moment brighter.”
Another friend of his described him to Israel’s KAN 11 as humble, mild-mannered and a true strategist. “These two people really wanted to advance the idea of coexistence,” he shared.
Lischinsky, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces and got his bachelor’s degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his master’s degree at Herzliya’s Reichman Institute, was passionate about diplomacy and, according to his professors, highly motivated and hard-working. He believed in “the vision that was outlined in the Abraham Accords,” as he wrote on his LinkedIn page, and 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.”
“To this end, I advocate for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding,” he shared.
“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues. They were in the prime of their lives,” the Embassy of Israel in the United States shared on social media. “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.”
Our hearts are with the Lischinsky and Milgrim families today. May their memories be for a blessing.
