Australian Jewish leaders condemn DC murders

Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Daniel Aghion expressed the community’s horror last week at the “act of antisemitic terror” in Washington, DC.

Israeli embassy staff members Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a couple who were about to get engaged, were shot and killed while attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.

Alleged gunman Elias Rodriguez told the police on being apprehended, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”

Saying, “Our deepest sympathies are with the families of the dead, with the Israeli diplomatic corps and the American Jewish community,” Aghion expressed hope that justice would be swift and decisive.

“This senseless, brutal and targeted attack again shows us the danger posed to us all by the incitement and violence of the pro-Palestinian movement,” he said.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) executive director Colin Rubenstein said when people chant “globalise the intifada”, “This is what they mean.

“This appalling act of terrorism is a direct outcome of the hatred we’ve witnessed in the streets of the US, Australia and around the world,” he said.

“Condemnation of terrorism after the fact isn’t good enough; we implore our political leaders to condemn the chants of hatred before they become acts of violent hatred.”

Both the ECAJ and AIJAC are partners of the American Jewish Committee, who was hosting the event.

Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) president Jeremy Leibler said, “The fact that such a location would be the site of a targeted killing underscores the grave and escalating threats facing Jewish communities globally.” While ZFA CEO Alon Cassuto said, “Unchecked rhetoric that promotes hatred and violence has real-world consequences.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong posted on X last Thursday that the government was “shocked and appalled” by the attack. “Our thoughts go out to their families, loved ones, and colleagues. There is no place for antisemitism in the world. It must be denounced and condemned,” she said.

Meanwhile, ECAJ co-CEO Alex Ryvchin last Friday condemned ostensibly pro-Palestinian activists who had celebrated or downplayed the murders on social media.

“To read the accounts of a young woman shot at close range and crawling for her life before being shot again multiple times and responding with barely concealed joy reveals a depravity that is difficult to comprehend,” he told The Australian.