On Wednesday evening, Yaron Lischinsky and his girlfriend, Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., by an anti-Israel militant. Soon to be engaged, Lischinsky and Milgrim both worked at the Israeli embassy. The Free Press is honored to publish this piece by Lischinsky’s friend Mariam Wahba.
I first met Yaron Lischinsky almost two years ago, at McCormick & Schmick’s steakhouse on K Street in Washington, D.C. I was new to the city and looking for new friends when we connected on X. I ordered a gin and tonic. He got nothing.
In typical Washington intro-meetings fashion, we began that awkward dance of “So what do you do?” I launched into the usual spiel about my work covering the Middle East for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. But soon enough, the conversation veered, sharply and inevitably, toward my favorite subject: Christians in the Middle East, a community we were both members of.
Yaron sat quietly, listening more intently than most people ever do. “Then there was the First Council of Nicaea in 425 AD. . . ” I began. “325,” he gently corrected me, with a small, amused smile. Then he ordered a drink too.
That moment told me all I needed to know about Yaron. He was precise, but never performative. He loved truth, not triumph.