Press releases
AJC Transatlantic Institute Statement on the Murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky Outside AJC Event in Washington, D.C.
Brussels, 22 May 2025 – American Jewish Committee (AJC) Transatlantic Institute mourns Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, two young staffers at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. who were murdered outside of the Capital Jewish Museum when leaving AJC’s annual Young Diplomats Reception. The two victims, a couple, were cherished members of the AJC community. They were soon to be engaged.
“This devastating act of violence sends shockwaves through every Jewish community around the world, including here in Brussels,” said AJC Transatlantic Institute’s Director, Benedetta Buttiglione. “Sarah, an American Jew, and Yaron, an Israeli Jew, were murdered leaving a Jewish event – and while we await the police investigation results – it strongly appears that this attack was motivated by hate against the Jewish people and the Jewish state. Since October 7, we’ve witnessed the unleashing and escalation of antisemitic hatred with great fear. This is not the first time we’ve seen such hatred turn deadly — we’ve experienced it through increasing attacks on Jews across continents.”
AJC Transatlantic Institute is comforted by the outpouring of support from our friends and allies around the world.
This shocking attack comes just months after AJC released its State of Antisemitism in America 2024 Report, in which 77% of American Jews reported that they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the U.S. because of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks.
We are grateful to President Trump and his administration, Washington, D.C. Mayor Bowser and her administration, and all other relevant law enforcement and government officials for their swift action and support.
AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC’s mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world.
For more, please visit www.ajc.org.
AJC Europe Managing Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen on Antisemitism in France
Since the Hamas-instigated war against Israel, France, like many other EU countries, has seen a massive explosion of antisemitic acts. AJC Europe Managing Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen joined France 24 to discuss how French Jews experience antisemitism in their daily lives and its frightening resurgence across Europe and the U.S.
Can Europe protect Diaspora Jews from Iran's IRGC threats?
While the EU is a leader in the fight against global antisemitism, if it really wants to protect its Jewish communities, expeditiously designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity is the next logical step and a moral imperative. “EU foreign ministers gathering in Luxembourg on April 24 should take action and urgently designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity,” writes AJC’s Michael Sieveking.
AJC CEO Ted Deutch at the UN on the Institution’s Role to Combat Antisemitism
Speaking at a high-level UN side event focused on globalizing efforts to combat antisemitism alongside Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of an American president or vice president, AJC CEO Ted Deutch called on UN leaders to do more to counter antisemitism at the world body. The program was co-hosted by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and the missions of Argentina, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, and the United Kingdom.
American Jews Shouldn't Be Afraid to Be Jewish
Following the findings of AJC’s State of Antisemitism 2022 Report, making clear that many in the Jewish community now feel uncomfortable and unsafe at work or on campus, AJC CEO Ted Deutch penned in Newsweek what can be done to combat rising Jew-hatred. The report was released at a critical time, just two months after the White House announced the creation of an interfederal agency committee to prepare a nation-wide strategy on combating antisemitism.
When Will The Far Left Stop Instrumentalizing The Palestinian Cause?
Jailed for plotting the murder of the former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel and for his connections with the EU-listed terrorist organization PFLP, Salah Hamouri, often misrepresented as a “human rights activist,” was warmly welcomed by several far left lawmakers in France last December. In Le Figaro, AJC’s Simone Rodan-Benzaquen calls them out for embracing Palestinian terrorists and stresses their serious responsibility to refrain from glorifying terrorism as elected officials.
AJC Honors UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed for Leading UN Action on Combating Global Antisemitism
Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, received AJC’s prestigious Jan Karski Award, named after the renowned Polish diplomat who sought to focus world attention on the Nazi Final Solution against the Jewish people. “This is an award that belongs to very few living people who can match the standards of Jan Karski. You are one of them,” said AJC CEO David Harris, who knew Karski well during the last 15 years of his life.
AJC, Lufthansa Announce Joint Initiative to Combat Global Antisemitism
After Orthodox Jewish passengers were barred from a flight this past May, German airline Lufthansa has turned to AJC to train its employees to identify and respond to antisemitism. AJC strongly criticized the incident at the time. At AJC’s urging, the airline has since endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.
TFI Statement on Antisemitic Incitement in Textbooks Used by the Palestinian Authority
Brussels, 15 June 2022 - The Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) expresses its profound regret at the failure of the European Commission to adequately respond to ongoing antisemitic incitement in textbooks used by...
AJC is Dismayed that the EU Failed to Act against Antisemitic Incitement in Palestinian Textbooks Supported by EU Funds
The AJC Transatlantic Institute is dismayed that the EU failed to condition at least some of its €214 million annual funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA) on ending incitement in its textbooks.
Antisemitism and Foreign Policy: Amnesty International's Israel Report
By denouncing and attempting to uniquely criminalize Jewish self-determination, Amnesty International’s latest report accusing Israel of apartheid has earned a place of dishonor in the annals of antisemitism. AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal joined the Hudson Institute's Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, for a virtual international panel discussion on the document’s objective to delegitimize the lone Jewish-majority state in the world.