In a horrific, brazen attack in the heart of the U.S. capital, a lone pro-Palestine terrorist shot and killed a young Jewish couple who both served as Israeli Embassy staffers as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday evening. Experts say the murders exemplify how Jews in America and across the globe continue to be indiscriminately targeted as part of a surge in anti-Semitic violence since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, 26-year-old Sarah Lynn Milgrim and her partner, 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky had just exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez approached and opened fire on the couple. After the attack, Rodriguez discarded the gun and entered the museum, where he chanted “Free, free Palestine!” as he was taken into custody. Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter “said Lischinsky had just bought an engagement ring for Milgrim and was going to propose in Jerusalem next week.”

The attack comes days after a pregnant Jewish woman was shot and killed by a terrorist in Samaria as she was being driven to a hospital to give birth. The baby was delivered by emergency caesarian section and survived and was listed “in serious but stable condition.”

This latest spasm of murderous anti-Semitic violence is taking place amid a tapestry of virulent anti-Semitism that has taken place across numerous countries in a variety of settings, which has reached historic intensity since the October 7 attack.

Here in the U.S., violence against Jews erupted to unprecedented levels over the 12 months after October 7. According to a report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), anti-Semitic incidents skyrocketed 200% when compared to the same period the year before. The incidents involved over “8,015 incidents of verbal or written harassment,” more than “1,840 incidents of vandalism,” and at least “150 incidents of physical assault.” The report further noted over 2,000 incidents directed at Jewish synagogues and centers, with over half taking the form of bomb threats. The number marks a massive increase over the 81 bomb threats that occurred over the same time period the previous year.

ADL also pointed out that Wednesday’s terrorist attack at the Capital Jewish Museum marked the eighth terrorist plot targeting Jews in the last 10 months in the U.S., the latest one occurring just last month when Cody Balmer allegedly committed arson at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s (D) home while the governor and his family slept, referring to Shapiro “as a ‘monster’ and blam[ing] him for Palestinian deaths in the Israel-Hamas war.”

A particular concentration of anti-Semitic extremism has been occurring on college campuses across America. ADL tracked at least 1,200 incidents since the October 7 attack, with a survey revealing that “83.2% of Jewish college students [saying they] experienced or witnessed some form of antisemitism since the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. A slight majority (51.4%) of non-Jewish students also reported experiencing or witnessing antisemitism during that same period.”

Over the last decade, the explosive rise in anti-Semitic incidents occurring in the U.S. is even more pronounced, with ADL reporting that they have mushroomed 893% since 2015.

But the issue is far from just an American one. As ADL reported last year, in the months following the October 7 attack, anti-Semitic incidents rose 1,000% in France, 818% in the Netherlands, 500% in Austria, 350% in Germany, 738% in Australia, 631% in South Africa, and increased sixfold in the U.K. According to a study by the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel, anti-Semitic incidents soared 340% in 2024 compared to 2022, and almost doubled compared to 2023.

“The killing of Jews — simply because they are Jews — tragically is not a new phenomenon,” Lela Gilbert, a senior fellow for International Religious Freedom at Family Research Council who spent over a decade living in Israel, told The Washington Stand. “And we are reminded of this ugly brand of hatred all too often.”

As Gilbert commented previously to TWS, “As a Christian, I believe that the source of this phenomenon is deeply spiritual, and that diabolically-inspired individuals and well-funded international, political, and religious organizations are emotionally manipulating women and men with lies and greed, poisoning the minds of the young, and seeking to inspire another Holocaust.”