A friend organized a vigil for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, both Israeli embassy workers who were allegedly murdered by an anti-Israel activist, in Washington, DC on May 22, 2025. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

The suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Washington museum in what US authorities have called an anti-Israel hate crime pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a raft of criminal charges.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, is facing nine federal charges including murder of a foreign official and perpetrating a hate crime resulting in death.

US prosecutors have alleged that Rodriguez was motivated by hatred of Israel when he fatally shot Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington on May 21.

Rodriguez, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, answered “yes” when Washington-based US District Judge Randolph Moss asked if he was satisfied with his legal representation. His lawyer entered the not guilty plea on his behalf during a brief hearing.

The indictment cites statements Rodriguez allegedly made online prior to the shooting, including a call to “vaporize every Israeli 18 and above.” Rodriguez told police at the scene, “I did it for Palestine” and “I did it for Gaza” and posted an online manifesto declaring that perpetrators and abettors of Israel’s military actions in Gaza had “forfeited their humanity,” according to court documents.

The indictment includes findings that would make Rodriguez eligible for the death penalty if convicted, the start of what would likely be a years-long process.

President Donald Trump’s administration has touted the case and the hate crime charges as part of its larger effort to confront antisemitism, which has also included a series of civil rights investigations into colleges and universities and attempts to deport some pro-Hamas student activists.

Lischinsky, a research assistant in the embassy‘s political section, and Milgrim, a member of the embassy‘s administrative staff, were about to be engaged at the time of the shooting. They were attending an event for young diplomats hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.

A flag flutters above the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expelled Iran’s ambassador, accusing Iran of orchestrating at least two antisemitic attacks on Australian soil. Photo: REUTERS/Peter Hobson

Iran has downgraded diplomatic ties with Australia, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, a week after Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador over accusations that Tehran directed two antisemitic arson attacks in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

“According to diplomatic law and in response to Australia‘s action, the Islamic Republic has also reciprocally reduced the level of Australia‘s diplomatic presence in Iran,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, adding that Canberra’s ambassador had left Iran.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last week that operations at Australia‘s embassy in Tehran were suspended and all Australian diplomats were safe in a third country.

Canberra’s decision to expel the Iranian ambassador, its first such move since World War II, was the latest example of a Western government accusing Iran of carrying out hostile covert activities on foreign soil.

The Islamic Republic has denied the Australian accusations.

“The accusation of antisemitism against Iran is ridiculous and baseless,” Baghaei said, adding that Tehran does not welcome the deterioration in bilateral relations with Canberra.

Iranian officials said Tehran’s embassy in Canberra was continuing to provide consular services.

A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas

French authorities planted a new olive tree on Wednesday to honor Ilan Halimi, nearly a decade after the young French Jewish man was tortured to death and two weeks after a previous commemorative tree was cut down.

Hervé Chevreau, mayor of the norther Paris suburb Épinay, announced that several olive trees will be replanted in Halimi’s memory, praising “a remarkable outpouring of solidarity” reflected in the donations.

With a commemorative ceremony on Wednesday, the first olive tree will be planted in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of Paris in the Île-de-France region.

“In the context of rising antisemitic acts, the community aims to reaffirm its steadfast commitment against hatred, forgetfulness, and indifference,” Chevreau said in a statement. “This gesture of reflection and resilience responds to the serious act of vandalism in Épinay-sur-Seine, where the commemorative tree was deliberately cut down.”

Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.

Three weeks later, he was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.

In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this month, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in Epinay-sur-Seine.

Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne.

During Wednesday’s ceremony, numerous prominent figures attended, including France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia, Yonathan Arfi, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, and Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination Aurore Bergé.

At the event, Bergé announced the launch of the seventh edition of the Ilan Halimi Award, marking 20 years since his disappearance.

Established in 2018, the award seeks to fight racism and antisemitism by inspiring young people to take action.

Since then, French authorities have annually recognized projects led by young people aged 13 to 25 from schools, universities, associations, and civic or integration programs.

“The launch of the 2026 edition of the Ilan Halimi Award in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is more than an act of remembrance — it is a pledge to the future,” Bergé said during the ceremony.

Ils peuvent tronçonner un arbre, nous replanterons.
Ils peuvent abattre un arbre, nous ferons vivre la mémoire.

Nous ne laisserons pas Ilan Halimi disparaître une nouvelle fois.

Le Prix Ilan Halimi 2026 est lancé. pic.twitter.com/Tn9SxlARJA

— Aurore Bergé (@auroreberge) September 2, 2025

Last week, two 19-year-old Tunisian twin brothers, undocumented and with prior convictions for theft and violence, were arrested in France for allegedly vandalizing and cutting down Halimi’s memorial.

Both brothers appeared in criminal court and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.

They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.