Netanyahu attends memorial for slain Israeli embassy workers before departing Washington

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara participated in a memorial ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., to honor Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who were murdered in an antisemitic terror attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May. 

The parents of Milgrim attended the ceremony, as did three siblings of Lischinsky, including the News Desk Manager of ALL ISRAEL NEWS, Hanan Lischinsky. Yaron’s parents participated via Zoom conference call. 

"Yaron and Sarah met after, and because of, October 7," Hanan said. "For both of them, it changed their lives, united them and in some way led to their end. It's a very powerful closure.” 

Sarah’s father, Bob Milgrim, said that the pain of his daughter’s loss caused him to feel closer to the families of the Israeli hostages. 

“There is hope,” he stated, “and I hope and pray that all the hostages return. We all mourn differently, but we feel the intensity of the families' pain. Before Sarah and Yaron were murdered, I felt a pain in my heart thinking about the families of the hostages. Now I feel that we are going through similar things.” 

Netanyahu spoke briefly at the ceremony, connecting his own grief at the loss of his brother, Yoni, and that loss of Ambassador Yechiel Leiter’s son in Gaza, to that of the grieving families. 

“The agony of losing a brother is great,” Netanyahu stated. “The agony of losing a son is greater.” 

Speaking of his own loss, Netanyahu said losing Yoni taught him that “life is a raging river,” but that it can carry you to new places. 

The prime minister said that the killing of the young couple was a “terrible tragedy.” 

“The tragedy is so terrible that it hit the heartstrings of everyone, Jews and non-Jews,” Netanyahu said. “President Trump said to me, 'What a beautiful couple, what a great tragedy.’" 

Netanyahu added that antisemitism – such as the kind that claimed the lives of Yaron and Sarah – underscores the need for a strong Israel and a strong Israeli military.

He noted that when Jews “began the great return to our land,” one of the first things they did was to build an army to defend themselves. 

“God helps those who help themselves,” Netanyahu said, quoting a popular American truism. 

“To see the Jew as victor and not victim is a historical adjustment that will take time,” he stated. “We do not bow down. We do not surrender. We win.”

The prime minister's wife, Sara, signed a letter of condolence at the memorial, writing, “May their memory be a blessing.” 

She also presented the embassy with a mezuzah made of shrapnel from the Iron Dome system, which will be placed at the entrance to the room at the embassy that was inaugurated in memory of the couple.