NERMEEN SHAIKH: Two staffers at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., were shot dead last night outside the Capital Jewish Museum. This is D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith.

PAMELA SMITH: We believe the shooting was committed by a single suspect, who is now in custody. Prior to the shooting, the suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum. He approached a group of four people, produced a handgun and opened fire, striking both of our decedents. After the shooting, the suspect then entered the museum and was detained by event security. Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he discarded the weapon, and that weapon has been recovered, and he implied that he committed the offense.

AMY GOODMAN: Israel’s Foreign Ministry identified the shooting victims as 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. They both worked at the Israeli Embassy and were about to be engaged. They had been attending a private event at the Capital Jewish Museum. According to one of the organizers, the event focused on advancing humanitarian aid efforts for Gaza. Authorities arrested 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, who was filmed shouting in support of Palestinians as he was being detained.

ELIAS RODRIGUEZ: Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine! Free, free Palestine!

NERMEEN SHAIKH: The journalist Ken Klippenstein posted what is believed to be a manifesto by the alleged gunman, Elias Rodriguez. In the document, he praises Aaron Bushnell, the U.S. Air Force person who self-immolated last year in an act of protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. Rodriguez wrote, quote, “Aaron Bushnell and others sacrificed themselves in the hopes of stopping the massacre and the state works to make us feel their sacrifice was made in vain, that there is no hope in escalating for Gaza and no point in bringing the war home. We can’t let them succeed. Their sacrifices were not made in vain.”

AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Tel Aviv, where we’re joined by the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, an award-winning Israeli journalist, author, columnist for the newspaper Haaretz, member of its editorial board. Gideon Levy’s latest book is titled The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe.

Thank you so much for being with us, Gideon. If you could first respond to the killing of these two staffers, a couple, who walked outside of this American Jewish Committee event at the Jewish Museum in Washington last night?

GIDEON LEVY: I mean, this incident can be only condemned. Nothing that Israel is doing can justify such a murder. It was a murder. And unfortunately, also, this kind of violence will not bring the Gaza war to its end. So it’s tasteless. It’s criminal. It’s tragic. Two young people being murdered, it doesn’t serve anything, and it should be condemned and not justified by any, any, anything. Nothing can justify it.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Gideon, if you could just talk about what the preliminary response in Israel has been and whether you anticipate anything happening as a direct consequence of this murder?

GIDEON LEVY: No, I don’t expect anything in particular connected with this murder. But the general atmosphere in Israel starts to be realizing that because of the war in Gaza, Israel is turning into a pariah state. People start to digest it, start to understand that there will be a price for all the crimes, for the mass killing, for the destruction. And the longer this war will go on, the more damage will be made also to Israel. Firstly, the main damage is obviously to the real, direct victims in Gaza, but also Israel is going to pay a price for running this war for so long, with so little justification, legitimacy or purpose.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Gideon, if you could talk about your latest column, “Israel’s Military Leaders Are Not 'Only Obeying Orders.' They Could Have Stopped the Gaza Massacre”? If you could elaborate on what you say in the piece?

GIDEON LEVY: Sure, sure. There is a tendency, mainly among my friends in the Zionist left or in the central left of Israel, to put everything on the shoulders of the government, which is right to do, but to give some immunity to the army, as if the army is still the old holy cow of Israel. I cannot accept it, because, finally, the children, almost 1,000 babies — can you imagine yourself? — almost 1,000 babies in 19 months, not to speak about the 17,000 children, they were killed by soldiers. They were killed by pilots. They were killed by people who have to take accountability for this. Yes, the government decides about the policy, and the government should be blamed for such a policy. But by the end of the day, we cannot say it’s only the government, because the army did it. There are almost no refuseniks in this war, which is quite surprising. There are some, but very few, and, for sure, not public ones. And all the others are committing a criminal policy, a policy with a black flag on it, a policy which it’s very clear does not meet any of the articles of the international law. And therefore, to say, “We don’t attack the army. We don’t criticize the army. It’s only the government,” is really doing our life too easy. Yes, the army is very popular in Israel. We have to break this militarism once and for all and say, “Yes, the government is to be blamed, but so does the army.” Everyone who took part in this bloodbath should be taken accountable.

AMY GOODMAN: Gideon Levy, we thank you so much for being with us. We hope to get back to you next week. Apparently, the Israeli government is going to hold a conference next week in Jerusalem on antisemitism, attended by ministers from member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. This as the opposition Israel Democratic Party head Yair Golan condemns the Netanyahu government’s siege of Gaza during an interview with Israeli public radio, saying, quote, “Israel is on its way to becoming a pariah state among nations, like South Africa was, if we don’t return to acting like a sane country. And a sane country does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.” Again, those the words of Yair Golan, who is with the opposition Israel Democratic Party.