WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, announced Friday that prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the accused gunman in the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members, prompting the advocacy group “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” to publicly oppose the decision.
Pirro “filed a notice of intent to seek capital punishment for three out of 13 charges” against the suspect in the D.C. Israeli Embassy shooting, Elias Rodriguez. The nearly 4,000-member L’chaim organization said it wholly opposes the death penalty and continues to call for its abolition. Upon hearing the news that the United States intended to pursue capital punishment, L’chaim members said they felt it necessary to republish an article written a year ago in response to the Israeli Embassy shooting, titled “Jewish Opposition to Execution of DC Israeli Embassy Shooter.”
On May 21, 2025, Elias Rodriguez allegedly murdered Israeli Embassy staff members Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum. Jews Against the Death Penalty called on Pirro and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to halt their pursuit of the death penalty and rejected a letter signed by members of the Israeli Knesset encouraging Rodriguez’s execution.
Members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” said they were deeply distressed by what they described as the antisemitic and terrorist attacks allegedly carried out by Rodriguez. Members also argued that a death sentence would make him a martyr to his ideology and could lead to additional violence. They contended that, as a politically motivated murderer, the consequences of Rodriguez’s execution would be even more dangerous.
Cantor Michael J. Zoosman authored the 2025 article condemning the potential implementation of Rodriguez’s death sentence. He wrote that Jews Against the Death Penalty draws inspiration from Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and death penalty abolitionist who famously condemned capital punishment: “With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory, I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.”
“L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” said incarceration would be a more appropriate punishment for Rodriguez and maintained that such a sentence would hold him accountable for his crimes. Members argued, “A civilized society is responsible for protecting and honoring all such mourners while also upholding the most basic human rights upon which this world stands. Fundamental to these, of course, is the right to life itself.” In support of that argument, Cantor Zoosman noted that the death penalty has been abolished in law or practice in more than 70% of the world’s nations.
Much of the group’s opposition to the death penalty stems from what members describe as its historical ties to the Holocaust. The organization stated that “the most common form of execution used by the U.S. federal government and multiple states is lethal injection,” which it characterized as a direct legacy of Nazi Germany. Members noted that Karl Brandt, Adolf Hitler’s personal physician, was among the first to use lethal injection as part of the Third Reich’s campaign to kill people deemed “unworthy of life.”
The organization also warned about what it described as additional Nazi-era legacies resurfacing in the United States, citing the expansion of gas chambers in several states, “including one in Arizona that uses Zyklon B, the same lethal gas used in Auschwitz.” Members noted that some states, including Arizona and Louisiana, have already executed incarcerated people using nitrogen gas, while others have expressed interest in continuing the practice.
Because members believe the death penalty was shaped in part by practices associated with the Holocaust, “L’chaim members view the death penalty as one of the worst kinds of institutionalized evils.” Despite continued support for the federal death penalty from President Donald Trump, Jews Against the Death Penalty said it hopes to end what it described as a perpetual cycle of violence and continue advocating for “life-affirming decisions.”
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
