OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — It's been less than a week since two Israeli Embassy staffers were killed in Washington D.C.
A young couple, Overland Park native Sarah Milgrim and her boyfriend, Yaron Lischinsky both worked for the Israeli embassy.
The two were to announce their engagement on Sunday in Israel.
"She was sunshine," said Dr. Michael Leiter, "She used to come in, in the morning. Redhead, big, beautiful smile and just light up the embassy with life."
Dr. Michael Leiter is Israel's Ambassador to the United States, he met with Kansas City media partners on Sunday night during a short visit to Milgrim's parents.
"They were a dream couple," Leiter said about the two. "...tragically cut down by somebody screaming, free, free, Palestine."
According to Leiter, he is unable to attend Milgrim's funeral and wanted to offer support to the family.
A child's death is something he explained, hits close to home.
Leiter's son was killed over a year ago, serving in Israel's Defense Forces in Gaza.
He told members of the media, it's a pain he felt on the receiving end.
"It was my responsibility as Ambassador to call the parents be the one to inform them... I did my best to comfort them on the phone. But comfort when you're announcing the worst of all is very difficult," he explained.
Leiter spent Sunday afternoon with the Milgrim family, offering advice from his own experience.
Advice he explained came from his late son, to carry the prayers of 2000 years of ancestors with them.
"I put those prayers on my shoulders, and it lets the weight down. I'm able to deal with the weight," he explained. "I could wallow in my pain, but instead, I take him, I put him on my shoulders, not the past, but I have him on my shoulders as the future."
Leiter shared more on Sarah Milgrim's role within Israel's Embassy.
He called Milgrim, a liaison, community outreach for other embassies, and often organizing trips to Israel while working with young diplomats around the Globe.
The Ambassador encouraged those struggling to understand with anti-semitism across the globe, including the war in Gaza, to visit Israel.
"When you come and actually see what's going on, it changes your view of things," he explained. "Don't accept the by rote narratives, because the by rote narrative, we have a lot of enemies out there, and the narratives that are being conveyed are very skewed."
Leiter explained, the Israeli people are at war and victory is their only option.
Through all that is being thrown at them and they are doing their best.
One of their best was lost last week.
"Sarah, was making our case in public diplomacy in Washington fell on the battlefront of our public diplomacy. Our commitment to explaining what Israel is doing and what Israel is about," Leiter added. "She will continue to live on."
