Israeli ambassador connects embassy staffers’ slaying to bigger picture

Following the brutal shooting of a young couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. is calling attention to a “very important” larger issue both in America and on the global stage.

Two Israeli Embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were shot while leaving a Jewish event, after which the suspected shooter,  identified the shooter as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, yelled, “Free, free Palestine!” and security officers apprehended him.

The chant echoed those slogans proclaimed at protests across American college campuses, which Amb. Yechiel Leiter labeled “an eliminationist demand for the elimination of Israel” on “Special Report” Thursday.

“The big picture is very important for us to understand,” the Israeli ambassador to the United States said. “‘Free, free Palestine’ is actually what he said. ‘Free, free Palestine’ is part of the chant that was heard across universities all across the country, and it included the chant, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which is basically an eliminationist demand for the elimination of Israel. That’s what’s going on. Hamas tried to do on October 7.”

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Leiter argued that Rodriguez’s use of the “Free, free Palestine!” chant shows he allegedly believed “he’s going to implement it, the eliminationist policy regarding Israel, by shooting Jews here in Washington.”

Rodriguez has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, murder of a foreign official, causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

The shooting comes as tensions over Israel’s operations in the Gaza Strip have drastically escalated this week amid growing humanitarian concerns, though it is not the first time since the war broke out following the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that its D.C. embassy has been a target.

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Pro-Palestinian sentiment has grown in the United States, as a result of the ongoing war in Israel instigated by the Oct. 7 attacks. While the Trump administration has been cracking down on antisemitism, particularly on college campuses, Leiter criticized world leaders for “fueling” anti-Israel sentiment. 

“If we’re talking about the big picture, the outrage here is that we have international leaders like the president of France, Macron, who’s trying to press for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, as if the response to October 7 should be to call it Palestine Liberation Day,” Leiter told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier.

“So he’s fueling these chants of the likes of this Elias Rodriguez.”

Although charges were announced less than 24 hours after the crime occurred, the crime will be investigated as a hate crime and act of terrorism. Interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro noted that additional charges may come as the evidence warrants during a press conference Thursday. 

Rodriguez appeared in court on Thursday afternoon, where he had an attorney appointed. The judge advised him that he could be punished by life or death.

Pirro said Rodriguez waived his right to a detention hearing and conceded to detention. A preliminary hearing is set for 1 p.m. on June 18.

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Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz, Elizabeth Pritchett, Christina Shaw, Alex Nitzberg, David Spunt, Stephen Sorace and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.