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May 25, 2025
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
1) Today, May 25, marks 597 days since October 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack on Simchat Torah resulted in 1,182 fatalities (including 44 Americans) and over 4,000 wounded. 251 hostages (210 alive, 41 dead bodies) were taken during a day of brutal savagery and sexual violence. It was the largest single massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, with more than one in every 10,000 Israelis killed, and the third overall deadliest terrorist attack in the world to date.
2) The 58 remaining hostages, 35 known to be dead, 20 thought to be alive, and three of unknown status, include four Americans. Hamas holds the bodies of Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Judi Weinstein Haggai, and Gad Haggai. Releasing all the hostages might not be priorities for Trump and Netanyahu, but it's a top priority for us. We must continue to speak out for an immediate end to the Gaza war and the immediate return of all remaining hostages, living and dead.
3) Two Israeli Embassy employees, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were shot to death in an antisemitic attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum.
4) We must continue to live proudly as Jews and not let others use antisemitism as an excuse to curtail our constitutional rights.
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Hi Steve,
On Thursday, two Israeli Embassy employees, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were shot to death in an antisemitic attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where they had attended an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee. The young couple planned to get engaged soon in Israel. May their memories be for a blessing. May their parents somehow, eventually, find a measure of comfort and peace.
The shooter shouted “Free free Palestine” and “I did it for Gaza.” JTA wrote about the security issues at the event.
There is no evidence that the shooter specifically targeted embassy employees. It appears that his goal was to shoot people leaving a Jewish event at a Jewish museum. It could have been anyone at that event. It could have been any Jewish event. It could have been you or me.
Violence against Jews because they are Jews (or because someone thinks they are Jews) is antisemitic. Holding Jews responsible for the actions of Israel or any government is antisemitic. That's what makes these horrible murders antisemitic, not the slogan "Free Palestine," as much as his shouting that slogan helps us understand his twisted motivation and although the slogan "Free Palestine" can be triggering.
Those who think this shooting was not antisemitic are wrong. As the Nexus Project said in its statement, "This was a clear act of antisemitic violence, targeting individuals at a Jewish professionals event held at a Jewish cultural institution. Anyone who truly believes in the dignity and rights of all people has an obligation to name this for what it is and to speak out against the increasingly normalized hatred that fueled this attack."
Emily Tamkin writes, "The line of thinking for those who are defending this attack as not antisemitic is that it was motivated by injustice perpetrated by Israel, which is doing much worse to Palestinians in Gaza. But the motivation doesn’t change the fact that the shooting was carried out at an event by and for Jews (and not only Israelis) at a Jewish (and not Israeli) space. One may condemn every single action Israel has taken in Gaza; that doesn’t change the fact that two people were shot and killed."
The shooter, Tamkin concludes, "went to a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum and shot and killed two people. That was an antisemitic, violent, immoral act. No words shouted after—no call for freedom or dignity or justice—can change that."
In its condemnation of the antisemitic attack, Israel Policy Forum said, "Neither the October 7 attacks nor the war in Gaza provide any justification for political violence, and language used in anti-Israel protests that often glorifies such violence must stop. Jews in this country should not have to live in fear because of fighting taking place six thousand miles away, and we reject any attempted connection between these two arenas...
"The political point scoring already taking place, as if the terrorist was motivated by statements from politicians on either side of the spectrum rather than by events on the ground and his own twisted antisemitic hatred, is unseemly and must stop."
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt and Rabbi Aaron Alexander, co-Senior Rabbis at Adas Israel, the largest Conservative synagogue in Washington D.C., responded to the shooting by writing that in tragic times, "we must continue to live out loud as Jews. The fear from antisemitism is so real and often overwhelming, but our lifeblood and our home here in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States, where Jews have contributed and flourished for hundreds of years, is stronger and more potent than fear. We cannot and will not relinquish our pride and passion and purpose."
For all the much-needed attention this horrific attack drew to violent antisemitism, scant attention was paid to how absurdly easy it is to obtain guns in this country. Guns and antisemitism are a deadly mix. The U.S. is an outlier on gun violence because we have so few restrictions on gun possession. That's not normal. We need to redouble our efforts to fight antisemitism and to enact strong gun control measures.
The Trump administration's answer is not reversing GOP cuts to non-profit security grants. It's not to support the Countering Antisemitism Act, which the GOP House refused to call for a vote last year. It's not to crack down on the epidemic of gun violence. It's not to do anything that would address this problem.
Its answer? You guessed it: continue its crackdown on universities. Give someone a hammer and everything looks like a nail...The Trump administration is not serious about fighting antisemitism. It's no surprise that nearly two-thirds of Jewish voters disapprove of Trump's efforts to fight antisemitism.
Corrections. I'm entitled to my own opinions but not to my own facts, so I appreciate it when readers bring errors to my attention. No one pointed out any errors in last week's newsletter.
In Case You Missed It:
1) Multiple authors from several universities: We are Jewish students from universities Trump is targeting. He’s not protecting us.
2) Illinois Governor JB Pritzker spoke out against Trump's unconstitutional actions taken in the name of fighting antisemitism. He also issued a statement on the shooting.
3) JDCA CEO Halie Soifer: It's time to lift the façade: Trump isn't good for the Jews or Israel.
4) Michelle Goldberg writes about the Trump-supporting Christians accusing Jews of antisemitism.
5) Yeshiva University faculty issued a statement opposing the decision to confer the Presidential Medallion, Yeshiva’s highest honor, on Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) at its 2025 Commencement ceremony.
6) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon’s auditorium on Wednesday morning, during working hours, in which Trump was praised as a divinely appointed leader. Also last week, Hegseth promoted Kingsley Wilson, known for spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories, to press secretary.
7) Shaul Magid compares Biden the Zionist to Trump the transactionalist.
8) Kristi Noem did not know what habeas corpus was until last week.
9) Robert Reich shares the facts about Trump and the GOP's Big Beautiful Bill passed by the House in the wee hours of the morning (because what better way to showcase something you're proud of than by scheduling the debates and votes for late at night). Yes, it does cut Medicare as well as Medicaid.
10) Jake Tapper sucks. But you knew that, didn't you?
Social Posts of the Week. Dan Shapiro and Super 70s Sports.
Thread of the Week. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL).
Video Clip of the Week. Every time Norm enters the bar.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. Elton John on the Muppet Show ("eat your heart out Kiki!")
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder (yes, I wrote it). If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
I periodically update my posts on the IHRA definition of antisemitism and on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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