Terror and death come to Washington

The right and most meaningful way to honor the memories of two young Israeli diplomats is to rededicate ourselves to the hard work of peace and conflict resolution.

As we all woke to learn on Thursday, a brazen antisemitic attack on a Jewish event at a Jewish venue tragically claimed the lives of two young Israeli diplomats, Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.

Sarah and Yaron should have been celebrating their engagement this coming week. Yaron had purchased a ring and planned to surprise Sarah with a proposal in Jerusalem, bringing back memories for me of having done the same in Jerusalem nearly 25 years ago this summer.

Many young staff at J Street can see themselves in the couple and at the “Young Diplomats” event Wednesday night. Our team is filled with young professionals committed to diplomacy, peace and coexistence. Others in our community in my generation look at the smiling faces of the young couple and see our own children, family and friends.

This tragedy brought many of us back to the horror of October 7 and the gut punch we experienced that day on learning that peace activists and idealists we knew had borne the brunt of Hamas’s hateful terror. It’s still unfathomable to me that people like Vivian Silver, Ofer Libstein and Chaim Katzman were taken by the very violence and hate their lives were dedicated to fighting.

The Jewish community here is understandably shaken. Parents are hugging their children a little tighter at drop-off at Jewish day schools. Colleagues at Jewish institutions are taking a fresh look at their security plans. Many who wear a yarmulke, Star of David or other visible signs of their faith are grappling with concerns for their safety.

It’s painful when the worst of our fears are realized - fears of what can happen when anger over the actions of Israel’s government thousands of miles away is shamefully warped and manipulated into hatred of Jewish people everywhere.

I am grateful to the many friends and allies in the work we do for peace and diplomacy – including in the Palestinian- and Muslim-American communities – who reached out this week to express their shock, sympathy and solidarity.

They know – as I know – that even as anger builds at this extreme government of Israel and deep anguish wells up over the suffering in Gaza, nothing justifies targeting that anger at Jews, Israeli citizens or Jewish institutions in the United States.

Violence and hatred simply will not advance the Palestinian cause.

Many Jewish Americans who believe that occupation must end and that Palestinians must have a state have felt for a while that some rhetoric in the pro-Palestine movement has gone too far. This can and should be the moment for pro-Palestinian activists to take stock and address the danger unleashed when extreme words and slogans hit the ears of unhinged individuals.

This horrific crime comes just as the war in Gaza is heating up yet again. Israeli ground and air operations are intensifying, casualties are soaring, and the rhetoric of ministers and government officials is – as ever – well beyond the pale.

Thankfully, some trucks with food and other necessities are slowly making their way into Gaza again – but it is not nearly enough and the fact that aid has been deliberately blocked for months by the government of Israel is morally indefensible.

The toll each day and night in Gaza from the bombs, from the bullets and from the blockade is staggering. Palestinian lives – young and old – are being lost day in and day out. And, in most cases, we in the US don’t know the stories or have the pictures to help us identify with the victims, as we do with Yaron and Sarah or as we do with the hostages held by Hamas now for well over 19 months.

Thousands – probably tens of thousands – of innocent Palestinian civilians have lost their lives, their futures, their hopes and their dreams in Gaza. There too every night mothers clutch their children tightly wondering if they will make it through to morning, wondering if their children will have food the next day.

This horror must stop.

It is true that this would end if Hamas would simply release all the hostages, lay down their arms and surrender. That would be the right outcome. No argument from me. Every last terrorist who took part in October 7 must and will be brought to justice.

However, in a world in which that isn’t going to happen, the onus is on the government of Israel to make this stop. And the people of Israel – in the streets and in the polls – are making it clear they want it to stop. By two to one, they are saying it is time for the Netanyahu government to make an agreement that will end the fighting in return for the release of hostages.

60-70 percent of the Israeli people support Israel working with its neighbors, the US and others on a credible plan for a different future. On a comprehensive, regional agreement for security, governance and redevelopment of Gaza that leads to Palestinian statehood and regional normalization.

The horror at the Capital Jewish Museum must not harden our hearts or cause us to lose faith that there’s a way forward out of the darkness.

Instead, let the memories of Sarah and Yaron inspire us to re-dedicate ourselves to the cause of peace and conflict resolution.

Let us turn the horror and loss we feel today and that we have been grappling with for far too long now into the energy to do the work to bring this conflict to an end.

That is the only way to ensure that the memories of this incredible young couple will truly be a blessing for us all. (For a deeply moving remembrance of Sarah, you may want to read this beautiful New York Times op-ed.)