The murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington

There was a double-murder Wednesday evening of two members of the Israeli Embassy staff in Washington, both apparently junior ones. (1) They were shot outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, where they were attending an non-Embassy related event featuring a panel discussion on providing food aid to Gaza.

A 30-year-old suspect named Elias Rodriguez has been arrested. Reuters talked to a witness who spoke to the suspect. She said that the man came into the museum looking and sounding confused. At he pulled a Jordanian kaffiyeh (which has a different pattern than the Palestinian kaffiyeh) out of his bag, she relates that he said, “I did it. I did it for Gaza, free, free Palestine'.” She also took a video of him saying, “Free, free Palestine” as he was being arrested.

Presumably the police will analyze and trace the weapon used. But with the flood of small arms available in the US, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that it’s relatively easy for almost anybody to get a gun.

The BBC reports:

The couple were shot dead as they were leaving an event at the museum shortly after 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT) last night. Diplomatic sources tell Reuters and AFP news agencies that Lischinksy was also a German national.

The suspect has been detained and was identified by police as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago. Police say he shouted "free Palestine" after being taken into custody. Officers will "look into ties to potential terrorism".

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith says the suspect was seen pacing up and down outside the museum before opening fire with a handgun on a group of four people. (2)

At this writing, I haven’t seen any more details published about Rodriguez, his political affiliations, or his personal background.

Netanyahu’s government instantly makes the murder about antisemitism and his own war policies, talks about “blood libels against Israel”

The murders occurred at an event about food aid to Palestinians at the Jewish Museum organized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC). There is no indication so far that the suspect knew either of them personally or was targeting them individually . The two victims were standing talking with two other people, so it’s plausible that he chose his targets essentially at random.

Those circumstances suggest that he was acting from antisemitic motives because it sounds like he essentially picked two random people at an event he assumed to be primarily attended by Jews. So that’s entirely possible.

But Netanyahu and his partisans immediately declared it to be all about antisemitism and made a point to suggest that that label also applies to anyone, including European nations, who criticize his government’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza.

This early response from Netanyahu himself is telling: “Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We are witness to the terrible cost of the antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel. Blood libels against Israel have a cost in blood and must be fought to the utmost’." (3)

Israel has long used “antisemitic” to stigmatize criticism of Israel’s policies. It’s notable that he used the phrase “blood libels against Israel.” The Holocaust Museum’s website defines “blood libel” as follows:

The term blood libel refers to the false allegation that Jews used the blood of non-Jewish, usually Christian children, for ritual purposes. The Nazis made effective use of the blood libel to demonize Jews, with Julius [Streicher's} newspaper Der Stürmer making frequent use of ritual murder imagery in its antisemitic propaganda. (4)

Netanyahu’s term “blood libels against Israel” means something different. it’s essentially conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Which is now a routine practice for the Israeli government.

The Holocaust Museum’s description of the term gives additional history, including its use in inciting what is known as the Kielce pogrom of 1946. But there is no mention of Israel in their definition. Maybe there is somebody somewhere who has made the accusation against all of Israel. But Netanyahu is simply equating any criticism of his exceptionally bloody policies in Gaza with the classic antisemitic trope.

Trump officially said on his Truth Social toy, "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 sentences are obviously fairly coherent, only two words (besides USA) are capitalized, and nothing is put in quotation marks. So he probably didn’t write it himself. But it’s posted there as his official statement as of this writing.

“[Maryland’s Democratic] Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who recently accused the U.S. of being complicit in Israel's mass starvation of Palestinians, said, ‘this is a horrific act of violence and antisemitism, and the perpetrator must be brought to justice’." (5)

Other Israeli leaders took the opportunity to try to stigmatize pretty much any non-negative reference to Palestine or Palestinians as antisemtic incitement to violence:

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, "In the past, Islamist terrorists carried out attacks shouting 'Allahu Akbar' – today, they shout 'Free Palestine.' This is not an innocent slogan but a direct continuation of incitement and brainwashing spreading through Western countries."

Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid said the attack was "a direct result of the incitement we've seen at protests across the world. This is what they always meant by 'Globalize the Intifada.'"

Israeli MK Gilad Kariv, chair of the Knesset committee responsible for Israel's relations with Diaspora Jewry, said the attack was "a reminder that terror doesn't distinguish between Israeli citizens and world Jews."

The conflation of criticism of Israel or even the ideology of Zionism with antisemtism has been widely discussed both before and after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack against Israel . In May 2024 and again on August 2024, I discussed that dispute and its connection with an International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) guideline on recognizing antisemtism.

Human Rights Watch expressed its concerns about conflation of antisemiticm with criticism of Israel or Zionism in 2023:

The IHRA definition was originally developed to guide research and law enforcement data validation before being used by the IHRA in its work, which includes education about the Holocaust and antisemitism. Adoption of the definition by governments and institutions is often framed as an essential step in efforts to combat antisemitism. In practice, however, the IHRA definition has often been used to wrongly label criticism of Israel as antisemitic, and thus chill and sometimes suppress, non-violent protest, activism and speech critical of Israel and/or Zionism, including in the US and Europe. Such misuse has also been criticized by the former Special Rapporteur on Racism E. Tendayi Achiume.

Ken Stern, the main drafter of the IHRA definition, recently reiterated his concerns about the institutional adoption of the definition in light of its proposed inclusion in an American Bar Association (ABA) draft resolution on antisemitism. Stern’s concern stems from the IHRA definition’s repeated use as “a blunt instrument to label anyone an antisemite.” In the end, ABA members adopted a resolution on antisemitism that did not reference the IHRA definition. Stern’s message to ABA applies equally to the UN. (6) [my emphasis]

CNN ran this early report: (7)

(1) Washington DC shooting live updates: Two Israeli embassy staff killed, Netanyahu blames antisemitism. Reuters 05/22/2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/washington-dc-shooting-live-updates-two-israeli-embassy-staff-killed-suspect-2025-05-22/> (Accessed: 2025-22-05).

(2) Two Israeli embassy staff killed and suspect in custody after Washington DC shooting. BBC News 05/22/2025. <https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy9vr10n732t> (Accessed: 2025-22-05).

(3) Samuels, Ben et. al. (2025): Netanyahu: Blood Libels Against Israel Cost Lives; Trump: 'Obviously Antisemitic'. Haaretz 05/22/2025. Gift link: <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-05-22/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-blood-libels-against-israel-cost-lives-trump-obviously-antisemitic/00000196-f69e-de64-a7f6-febf5a870000?gift=c83ba67484c64c9d820ed3c45cbd934e> (Accessed: 2025-22-05).

(4) Blood Libel. Holocaust Museum, n/d. <https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/blood-libel> (Accessed: 2025-22-05).

(5) Op. cit., note 3.

(6) Human Rights and other Civil Society Groups Urge United Nations to Respect Human Rights in the Fight Against Antisemitism. Human Rights Watch 04/04/2023. <https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/human-rights-and-other-civil-society-groups-urge-united-nations-respect-human> (Accessed: 2025-22-05).

(7) Israeli Embassy staff killed near DC Jewish Museum. NN YouTube channel 05/22/2025. <https://youtu.be/8Vf40Om9Pg8?si=8yGqCyVOVd3TrDC8> ccessed: 2025-22-05).