Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for his support following a deadly shooting outside a Washington, D.C., museum that killed two Israeli Embassy staffers. He also sharply criticized several Western nations for their stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
The victims, identified as Yaron Lishinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrom, 26, were killed outside the museum by a gunman identified as Elias Rodriguez of Chicago. Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Rodriguez had been seen inside the museum before the shooting and was removed after acting suspiciously.
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(צילום: רועי אברהם / לע"מ)
“He was wandering around. We don’t know exactly what he said, but it was enough to have him removed from the event,” Leiter told reporters at the scene. “He waited outside for Israeli Embassy employees and then opened fire. Three of them escaped. Sadly, Sarah and Yaron were shot at point-blank range.”
Authorities are still investigating the suspect’s motives and whether he acted alone. No accomplices have been identified so far.
In a phone call following the attack, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his support and for efforts by his administration to combat antisemitism in the United States.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said Trump expressed “deep sorrow” over the “horrific murder” and reiterated support for Israel’s goals in the war against Hamas. Those goals include freeing Israeli hostages, eliminating Hamas, and promoting the Trump administration’s peace plan. Both leaders agreed on the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Later, the White House said Trump believed “things are moving in the right direction” and that the two discussed the shooting and a possible nuclear deal with Iran.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, calling it “an act of terrorism” and reiterating its opposition to violence “regardless of the motives and reasons.”
In a separate video message delivered in English, Netanyahu harshly criticized leaders in France, Britain, Canada, and other countries for calling for an immediate end to Israel’s military campaign and for promoting a Palestinian state.
“For 18 years we effectively had a Palestinian state — it was called Gaza. And what did we get? Peace? No. We got the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said.
He said Hamas had thanked French President Emmanuel Macron and British Labour leader Keir Starmer for urging an end to the conflict.
“Hamas knew why it thanked them. Their demands, along with threats of sanctions against Israel and not Hamas, are keeping Hamas in power,” Netanyahu said. “These leaders are on the wrong side of history, on the wrong side of humanity.”
Ambassador Leiter, whose son was killed in Gaza a year and a half ago, expressed personal grief over the shooting.
“This is a deeply painful time for us. These were young, wonderful people we worked with daily. The loss is personal,” he said. “Last time, I was the one who got the knock on the door. This time, I had to deliver the terrible news to their parents.”
Despite the tragedy, Leiter urged Jewish Americans to remain proud and visible.
“People should wear their Star of David proudly, wear their kippot. The attempt to delegitimize and erase Israel and the Jewish people’s rights to the Land of Israel will not succeed,” he said.
Leiter also pushed back against recent French criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
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“Nobody is more concerned than we are about how this war is conducted. We are the ones losing soldiers,” he said. “If we could fight without collateral damage, we would. Did France manage that in its wars?”
He added, “My son would still be alive if we had done what the French and most Europeans now condemn us for not doing. We don’t flatten population centers. We do everything we can to avoid civilian harm. So if you want to criticize, first present an alternative.”
“We are a tiny country. We cannot allow jihadists who want to annihilate us to stand on our borders,” he said.
Contributing reporting by Lior Ben Ari.