Jewish activist warns antisemitism 'pandemic' spreading after DC shooting

The fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers has left the American Jewish community reeling after more than a year of surging antisemitism.

Yuval David, a filmmaker and Jewish activist who lives in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that the murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were “too close by for every Jew in America.”

“I was very close by in Washington, D.C., and the thing is, even though I was just merely blocks away, this is too close by for every Jew in America,” David said. “This is our nation’s capital. Jews now have increased security at our businesses, at Jewish schools, at Jewish synagogues, and it shows us that whatever increased security we have is not enough because two people were murdered last night.”

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David met Lischinsky just one day before he and his soon-to-be fiancée were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum. The Jewish activist told Fox News Digital that the two discussed Islamism in the West, something David was addressing on a panel at the conference.

While the attack took place at a Jewish institution, one of the victims, Lischinsky, was not Jewish. David pointed this out, saying that “all it takes” to be at risk is for someone to be perceived as Jewish. He added that “far too many people” have ignored the dangers of antisemitism.

“There is something terribly wrong. This pandemic of Jew hatred has been spreading in this country and around the world for many years, and far too many people ignored it,” he said.

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The Jewish activist said that he experienced antisemitism in the nation’s capital long before Lischinsky and Milgrim were fatally shot. According to the ADL’s annual antisemitism audit for 2024, David is far from the only one. The organization recorded 151 antisemitic incidents in Washington, D.C., throughout 2024.

“I personally have been yelled at, have been spit at here in Washington, D.C. on the streets of our nation’s capital. And I speak out about it very openly as I address this ever-increasing antisemitism, anti-Jewish racism, anti-Jewish hatred, anti-Jewish bigotry, which seems in the haters’ minds to be justified when they call it anti-Israel or anti-Zionism.”