Israeli Embassy Staff Fatally Shot at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

May 21, 2025

Statement by Jim Berk, CEO, Simon Wiesenthal Center:

The fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., tonight was not a random act of violence. It was a targeted assault on Israeli diplomats and the Jewish community in the very heart of the nation’s capital, and it must be recognized for what it is: a depraved act of antisemitic terrorism.

This horrific act is the result of months of silence, excuse-making, and moral cowardice in the face of escalating antisemitism. When Israel is demonized as evil, when Jews are targeted under the guise of 'anti-Zionism,' it emboldens hate and incites violence. Jew-hatred is not a political position.

Let us be clear: this is the outcome when antisemitic hate is normalized on our campuses, in our streets, and online. When leaders fail to call it what it is, hate festers, metastasizes, and erupts in bloodshed. This can no longer be tolerated, and our political and religious leaders, as well as each and every one of us, must lead by example and condemn this act without qualification.   

We extend our deepest condolences to the victims’ families, to the Israeli diplomatic community, and to the Jewish community of Washington, D.C.