Two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., were shot and killed in the area of a Jewish museum in the capital city on Wednesday night, with police telling the media that the alleged gunman shouted “Free Palestine!”
According to The Wall Street Journal, a spokeswoman for the embassy, Tal Naim Cohen, said in a statement that the two individuals, one man and one woman, “were shot this evening at close range.”
The shooting, Washington police said, was near 3rd Street and F Street Northwest, which is also in the vicinity of the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum.
A man was reported to be in custody and footage of him allegedly yelling slogans in support of the Palestinian cause was available on social media shortly after the shootings took place.
The museum had been hosting what it called a “Young Diplomats Reception” on Wednesday evening in association with the American Jewish Committee.
“This special event brings together Jewish young professionals and the D.C. diplomatic community for an evening dedicated to fostering unity and celebrating Jewish heritage,” the invitation read.
Numerous reports on social media cited Washington, D.C., police as confirming the alleged shooter shouted “Free Palestine” either before opening fire or after his arrest.
🚨 #BREAKING: An Israeli diplomat has just been shot and kiIIed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in DC
The shooter screamed “FREE PALESTINE” before assassinating the diplomat, per DC police
FBI and Pam Bondi are now on scene pic.twitter.com/bogH1UUR1j
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 22, 2025
2 Israeli embassy staff members shot dead outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
According to the police, the shooter shouted “FREE PALESTINE”.
This is terrorism.
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) May 22, 2025
This is from the event at the Capital Jewish Museum, taken by Katie Kalisher. The man being led out by police yells, “free free Palestine.” Kalisher said she did not witness the shooting, but that this man took responsibility for it.@fox5dc https://t.co/fQctdXj39J pic.twitter.com/s6Hivs26uW
— Josh Rosenthal (@JoshRosenthalTV) May 22, 2025
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a statement on X that the two individuals “senselessly killed” were Israeli staffers, although she did not confirm that the perpetrator yelled any pro-Palestinian slogans.
“We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice,” she said.
Two Israeli Embassy staff were senselessly killed tonight near the Jewish Museum in Washington DC. We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share. Please pray for the families of the victims.
We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) May 22, 2025
The timeline of how the suspect was apprehended and when seems a bit hazy, according to media reports.
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A Jerusalem Post report said that a suspect had been taken into custody and that Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith confirmed he shouted “Free Palestine” during his arrest.
“MPD later identified the suspect as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, with MPD’s chief commenting that Rodriguez was not known to the police before the incident. Earlier reports described him as ‘having a goatee, wearing a blue jacket and blue jeans.’”
In a post to X just before 11 p.m. and edited shortly thereafter, Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, called the shooting “a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”
The fatal shooting that took place outside the event that took place at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. is a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism. Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line. We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against… pic.twitter.com/mVyXHjGyxU
— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) May 22, 2025
“Harming the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” he wrote. “We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act. Israel will continue to act resolutely to protect its citizens and representatives — everywhere in the world.”
In addition, the Journal noted that the museum had recently received a grant to offset security costs related to terrorism concerns.
“Jewish institutions all around town, all around the country, are concerned about security due to some very scary incidents that some institutions have faced and because of a climate of anti-Semitism,” Beatrice Gurwitz, the executive director of the venue, said in an interview with local media earlier in the week.
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