Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has ordered increased security measures at Israeli embassies around the world after two Israeli embassy staffers were killed in a shooting in Washington.
Netanyahu said on 22 May that he was shocked by the killing.
“We are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and savage incitement against Israel,” he emphasised.
Two employees of Israel’s embassy in Washington were killed in a shooting on the evening of 21 May as they were leaving the West at the Jewish Museum. According to police, a suspect has been apprehended. He exclaimed: “Free Palestine”, Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith said. The suspect had no previous contact with police, she added.
Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yehiel Leiter, said the dead were a young couple who were about to get engaged.
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting. “These horrific murders in Washington, D.C., obviously based on anti-Semitism, must stop now!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the incident.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasised in a post on X that the perpetrator would be brought to justice.
FBI Director Kash Patel said he and his team were informed of the shooting.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and D.C. District Attorney Jeanine Pirro were at the scene of the shooting.
The attack came amid Israel’s new campaign against Hamas (recognised as a terrorist group in the EU and the US) in the Gaza Strip.