A Strike at the Political Heart of Jewish America

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1. After the Attack: Shock, Fear and Confusion

Wednesday night’s horrific terror attack outside the Washington, DC, Capital Jewish Museum left the community reeling. The next day, dozens walked up to the steps of the museum to pay their respects to the memory of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two staffers at the Israeli embassy in DC who had attended the American Jewish Committee’s reception for young diplomats and professionals at the museum. Yaron, it was later revealed, had just bought an engagement ring and was about to propose to Sarah in Jerusalem, where she was supposed to meet his family.

The terrorist who has been charged with the attack, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, paced outside the museum for at least 10 minutes before spotting a group of four participants leaving the event, court documents said. He turned and shot Sarah and Yaron multiple times in the back, then walked into the museum, where he remained for another 10 or so minutes, appearing rattled to witnesses unaware he was the possible perpetrator. Then, suddenly, he shouted “Free, free Palestine!” while waving a red keffiyeh. When turned over to the police, he declared that he had carried out the murder “for Gaza.” 

Rodriguez, based on the current information available from the FBI affidavit filed in court, had bought a ticket to the event several hours before the shooting. Why choose this Jewish gathering? It is not clear.

But what is clear is that Rodriguez, perhaps inadvertently, had touched on a pivotal scene for young Jewish Washingtontonians: a newly opened Jewish museum located at the margins of DC’s Chinatown, an area that is home to many young Jewish professionals working on the Hill or in politics-related nonprofits. It was as Jewish Washingtonian an event as could be—a gathering of up-and-coming activists who sought to weave their faith and values with their professional ambitions; activists who are committed to making the world a better place, as guided by their Jewish values. It is a phase many Jewish DC political and organizational professionals go through—secure enough in their career path to hold significant positions in their organizations, but still in the early stages of their careers in which ideology and beliefs come before salary and title. 

Yaron and Sarah were no different. 

Will their untimely deaths by the hands of a hate-driven terrorist change Washington’s young Jewish professional scene? Only time will tell. But as of now it is clear that the basic feeling of security and assurance has cracked for all, especially for those who are now taking their first steps on the path to becoming the Jewish community’s next leaders.

2. What Next? More Security Funding

The attack raises endless questions; Key among them is whether it is a case of a terrible security lapse, or an almost inevitable outcome of the anti-Israel campaign triggered by the Gaza war.

The answer lies somewhere in the middle. Security protocols and more awareness should have thwarted a lone gunman’s attack outside a Jewish event, no doubt about that. There is also no doubt that nearly two years of an extremely hostile anti-Israel environment, seemingly unmitigated and unchecked by protest organizers, have the potential of feeding deranged violent criminals with murderous ideas. 

On a practical level, this question doesn’t matter much to a community trying to figure out its next steps.

The most immediate action relates to increasing security around Jewish institutions. An ad-hoc coalition of all major Jewish denominations and key organizations came out on Friday with a call for the federal government to increase funding through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and bring it to the level of $1 billion, a dramatic raise from the current $300 million budgeted for the program.

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is run by the Department of Homeland Security, is the main vehicle for providing federal support for security upgrades and fortification for Jewish institutions. The Trump administration had initially placed the entire program on the chopping block and zeroed out its funding as part of a government-wide spending freeze. The funding was restored after an outcry, but in the current anti-spending climate created by Elon Musk, making a major funding increase will be a challenge, even after this shocking terror attack.

And speaking of Musk, the coalition of Jewish groups that issued the call for more security also stressed the need for the government to hold social media platforms accountable for “amplification of antisemitic hate, glorification of terrorism, extremism, disinformation and incitement.” Translated into political terms, this request basically asks the Trump administration to regulate Elon Musk’s X platform and demand that it not host hateful speech. There is no political world in which this is about to happen.

3. What Next? Tougher Crackdown on Protests

Rodriguez made no secret about his sources of inspiration for this vile act. To police on the scene he said: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” and expressed admiration for Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. airman who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy last year in protest of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Rodriguez’s rhetoric, which included chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea,” was exactly the same as that heard in anti-Israel protests throughout the United States since the war began.

For some Republican lawmakers, this is enough to prove the need for a crackdown on these protests. “Two Jews were assassinated by a gunman sporting a terror rag and yelling ‘Free Palestine,’” GOP Rep. Randy Fine tweeted hours after the attack. “It is high time for us to acknowledge there is nothing peaceful about this movement and that these demons must be put down by any means necessary.”

What are these possible means?

The Trump administration has already taken on elite academic institutions for allegedly not protecting students from antisemitism stemming from anti-Israel protests and has hit them with harsh financial measures. It also went after foreign students who participated in protests and in some cases succeeded in deporting them.

A direct assault on the right to chant certain slogans or make certain comments could come next, a move that would counter the protesters’ protected First Amendment rights.

In addition to being a highly questionable move from a legal standpoint, it’s an infeasible one politically. “The problem isn’t speech, the problem is violent conduct,” said Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, when asked about the issue while visiting the scene of the attack. “Americans know the difference between free speech and violent threats and violent actions.”

4. The Politics of it All

Politicians commenting on Wednesday’s tragedy made sure to announce that fighting heinous antisemitic violence is not a partisan issue and should not be used for political gains. Some, however, proceeded to ignore their own disclaimer and to do exactly that—make the issue political.

So where are the political divides in this nonpolitical issue?

One is over the question of which administration has been better on fighting antisemitism—Trump or Biden? Republicans claim that Biden was not aggressive enough in his response to October 7-related antisemitic incidents in the United States  and that Trump, through his all-out attack on Ivy League colleges and through his deportation orders, has been more impactful.

Democrats, on the other hand, point to Biden’s landmark, government-wide national strategy for fighting antisemitism and his nuanced approach to college protests as effective and appropriate. They also lambast Trump’s campus crackdown as an exploitation of the Jewish community’s real concerns to justify an unrelated anti-academic agenda that fits other needs of his own political base.

There’s the divide over freedom of speech. Democrats don’t see a world in which muzzling protests could serve the cause, while Republicans argue you cannot fight antisemitism while allowing protesters to shout antisemitic slogans out loud. 

And then there’s the issue of government intervention. Democrats accuse the Trump administration of cutting funds for civil rights investigations as part of the gutting of the Department of Education, thus reducing the ability to go after antisemitic offenders in the higher education system. Republicans say that Trump’s new task force on antisemitism fills a similar function, just without the lengthy investigations and tedious fact-finding.

5. Things Will Look Different From Now On

On the ground, reality has already changed.

Israeli diplomats have been ordered to avoid—at least for now—any public gathering, including Jewish community events. They were even advised not to attend public vigils and memorial events for their fellow embassy staffers slain outside the museum.

Jewish organizations and institutions have immediately increased security, making entry to events and buildings more difficult and limiting unsecured activities. 

And this is just the beginning. The unfortunate truth is that from now on, despite its promise of resilience, the Jewish community will be more cautious, and that means less involved. Thinking twice before attending an event, choosing remote communications over in-person engagement and turning synagogues and office buildings into mini-fortresses is not the way Jewish activists want to lead their lives. Sarah and Yaron and other participants at the Wednesday night event believed that being an active Jewish or Israeli community member means reaching out, engaging, schmoozing and making personal connections. All this has now become much more difficult.

Top image: Capital Jewish Museum Washington, DC (Credit: Ajay Suresh (CC BY 2.0)).