Israel Embassy Diplomats Executed

Israel Embassy Diplomats Executed
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
May 22, 2025

In about a week’s time Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, had planned to board a plane, no doubt from Reagan National Airport, and fly to Tel Aviv and land, no doubt at Ben Gurion Airport. Once in Israel the couple would visit his parents, and Lischinsky, already armed with a ring, would propose marriage to Milgrim.

Sadly, those plans were altered drastically, as an antisemitic domestic terrorist executed the duo outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC before 9 PM, on Wednesday May 21. The soon to be engaged couple, both staffers with the Israeli embassy, attended a Young Diplomats Reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee. When the shooter, Elias Rodriguez, 30, shouted “Free, free, Palestine,” he pulled out a keffiyeh and admitted to witnesses in the museum, “I did it. I did it for Gaza,” thus became the clarion call for global intifada.

The radicalized Rodriguez, from Chicago, had links to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, an extreme leftist organization based upon Marxist-Leninist principles. The PSL fights against capitalism, endorses communist dictators, and participates in anti-police marches. Two weeks after the October 7, 2023 Hamas slaughter of more than 1,200 innocent Israeli children, women, and men, Rodriguez posted to X (formerly Twitter) “a video calling to ‘bomb Tel Aviv,’ and the words ‘Happy New Year, Death To Israel,’” according to The Jerusalem Post. More recently he posted “Death to America,” and praised Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthCare CEO. In 2020 Rodriguez donated $500 to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, also according to The Jerusalem Post.

President Donald J. Trump posted, “these horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the United States of America. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! G-d Bless You ALL!”

“This is the direct result of toxic antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world that has been going on since the October 7 massacre,” said Gideon Saar, Israeli Foreign Minister.

Quite frankly, Saar’s comment is more than a little shortsighted. An audit conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) indicated 9,534 antisemitic incidents took place in 2024 - the highest total in 46 years, and five percent greater than the 2023 figure. Over the past five years antisemitic incidents have risen by 344 percent, and by 893 percent over the last 10 years. These numbers are both daunting and disturbing. What’s more disturbing is that these are not just numbers. They represent people who have been assaulted or murdered because they were Jewish. They represent synagogues, day schools, as well as businesses and private homes owned by Jewish people.

And in next year’s ADL report those numbers will represent Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Lischinsky had been a research assistant at the Israeli Embassy since September 2022. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Asian Affairs at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also earned a Master’s degree in Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at Reichman University in Herzliya in the Tel Aviv district. Lischinsky also served for three years in the Israel Defense Forces. 

Milgrim joined the Israeli Embassy in November 2023 working in the Department of Public Diplomacy. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Kansas. Milgrim also earned two Master’s degrees. One from American University in International Affairs, and the other in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from the United Nations for Peace University in Costa Rica.

“They were in love - one for the other,” said Daniel Lischinsky, Yaron’s father. “The embassy told us they were like a star couple at the embassy. I never expected something like this. He had his whole life before him,” Daniel Lischinsky said of his son.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked both President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi for “their clear stance against antisemitism. We are witnessing the horrific price of antisemitism and the rampant incitement against the state of Israel…. My heart aches for the families of the beloved young man and woman whose lives were abruptly cut short by a vile antisemitic murderer,” said Netanyahu. Bondi announced she will seek the death penalty for Rodriguez. Good.

Author and radio and television commentator Mark Levin appeared on Fox & Friends less than 12 hours after the antisemitic murders. “Jews are not safe in every capital in Europe, and now they’re not safe in our capital…. This is what happens when you have open borders and unfettered and unvetted immigration, particularly from the Middle East…. And they’re the enemy. They are not an adversary…. They’re marching through the streets like no Nazis ever have, like no Klansman ever have in our country, calling for the destruction of the United States of America, the overthrow of the West, burning the American flag, chasing Jewish students on college campuses, threatening elderly Jews who hold signs on the streets peacefully, attacking our synagogues…. Is this what we want? Is this who we are,” Levin asked.

“For these neo-nazis, ‘Free Palestine,’ is just today’s version of ‘Heil Hitler.’ They don’t want a Palestinian state, they want to destroy the Jewish state. They want to annihilate the Jewish people who have been in the land of Israel for 3,500 years,” said Netanyahu. And throughout those three and a half millennia, the land of Israel has been, is, and always will be the ancestral, Biblical, cultural, historical, and religious homeland of the Jewish people, regardless of the slogan of the day.

Similarly, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” is also a slogan to call for the evisceration of Israel, and the elimination of the Jewish people. From the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, and all points in between should only be a Palestinian homeland and not the Jewish homeland it has been for 3,500 years. That a two-state solution is really no solution at all. While Israel has made compromise after compromise, surrendered a piece of land here and a piece of land there in order to simply survive, none of that has led to a lasting peace - nor will it. And that is because terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis have written into their charters the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state and the slaughter of the Jewish people, thus making it a one-state solution, which, when there are already more than 40 Arab/Muslim nations, and no other Jewish states, is no valid solution at all.

Couple that with the horrifying rise in antisemitism here in the United States, the unconscionable indoctrination on college campuses coast to coast, the paucity of real history being taught and learned there, and more and more American Jews are feeling less and less safe at home. Some want to leave the United States for Israel - make aliyah. Others feel the need to keep a low profile and not make waves.

None of those options are a valid solution. Jewish Americans cannot give up on the United States as either a safe haven for religious freedom or as a place to thrive as has been the case for as long as America has been America. We must be more openly Jewish, be more observant as religious Jews, be more supportive of Jewish groups and organizations that support Israel, be more supportive of political candidates who support Israel and Jewish values as American values, and be more vigilant in fighting antisemitism. The antisemites will not chase us from the United States of America. Their antisemitism can’t be hidden, nor will we as proud Jews and proud Americans. As for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, may their memories be for a Blessing.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Rose, Shoeless Joe Become Hall Eligible

Rose, Shoeless Joe, Become Hall Eligible
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
May 13, 2025

In a major league announcement made Tuesday, May 13, Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., has declared the late Pete Rose, the late “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and 15 other deceased players removed from the permanently ineligible list. 

The National Baseball Hall of Fame Historical Overview Committee will be tasked with determining who, if any, of the 17 deceased players are to be deemed worthy of appearing on a Hall of Fame ballot. Those ballotted players would be required to receive votes from at least 12 of the 16 members of the Classic Baseball Era Committee in order to earn enshrinement in Cooperstown. (The Village of Cooperstown in Otsego County, NY, is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.) Rose and Jackson would have been automatics if not for their transgressions. Now, their families and fans will have to settle, perhaps, for posthumous inductions.

Major League Baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame are separate entities and as such have their own policies and procedures. When Rose’s banishment by Major League Baseball became official in 1989, the Hall of Fame lacked any rule barring those on the ineligible list from appearing on Hall of Fame ballots. Rose would have been a lock for the Class of 1992 - joining Rollie Fingers, Hal Newhouser, and my favorite player - Tom Seaver. The Hall of Fame knew any discussion of Rose entering Cooperstown would create a tumult. In 1991 the Hall of Fame installed a rule barring those on the Major League Baseball ineligible list from Hall eligibility. Interestingly, as that rule had not heretofore existed, Jackson appeared on Hall ballots in 1936 and 1946 earning less than one percent of the vote in both years.

Yet, in a statement following Manfred’s announcement, Hall of Fame board chairman Jane Forbes Clark said “the National Baseball Hall of Fame has always maintained that anyone removed from Baseball’s permanently ineligible list will become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration.”

I would like to think that the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) would have brains enough to continue to balk at Jackson’s entry, but he is a sentimental favorite having been a major character in Phil Alden Robinson’s 1989 film Field of Dreams. However, it was in John Sayles’ 1988 film Eight Men Out that dramatized the crux of the 1919 Black Sox scandal where the heavily favored Chicago White Sox threw the World Series to the underdog Cincinnati Reds. Cavorting with gamblers, accepting payment to intentionally lose any game, let alone the World Series - actions have consequences.

The most immediate and long lasting consequence of the 1919 Black Sox scandal saw federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis installed as the first commissioner of Major League Baseball. He served from 1920 until his death in 1944. (Manfred, serving since 2015, is the tenth commissioner of Major League Baseball.) Landis had a goal to clean up baseball - get rid of the gamblers. 

Although the eight Chicago White Sox players won an acquittal in a court of law in 1921, having been sued by a fan who bet on the White Sox and, of course, lost. Landis banned them for life the very next day. “Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ballgame, no player that entertains proposals or promises to throw a game, no player that sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing games are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball. Baseball is entirely competent to protect itself against crooks, both inside and outside the game,” Landis wrote.

Of the 17 deceased players who have now been freed from the permanently ineligible list, only three will be impacted by a potential enshrinement in Cooperstown. According to the BBWAA rules for election to the Hall of Fame, “3 - Eligible Candidates… B. Player must have played in each of ten (10) major league championship seasons… E. Any player on Baseball’s ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate.”

The following players played fewer than the requisite 10 seasons: William Cox, Cozy Dolan, Phil Douglas, Lee Magee, Jimmy O’ Connell, and Gene Paulette - all banned by Landis for gambling related offenses. In the case of Cox, at the time of his ousting he held the position of president of the Philadelphia Phillies and part owner of the team. His punishment included being forced to sell his portion of the team.

Benny Kauff also played fewer than 10 years in the majors. His banning came due to an indictment for auto theft, and even after being acquitted, the Landis ban stuck. In fact, Kauff sued Landis for reinstatement, but the suit was dismissed.

Joe Gedeon got himself caught up in the Black Sox scandal with gambling, but not as a White Sox player. During Gedeon’s seven year career he played for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Browns. Landis banned Gedeon in 1921, as he did with the eight White Sox players, six of whom also did not play 10 seasons in the majors. Although first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil retired from baseball following the 1919 season, he too faced permanent expulsion from Major League Baseball. The other five were centerfielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch, seldom used third baseman Fred McMullin, infielder Charles “Swede” Risberg, third baseman George “Buck” Weaver, and southpaw pitcher Claude “Lefty” Williams.

Weaver, who played a superb, and clean, World Series, maintained his innocence until his death in 1956, having applied for, and been rejected for, reinstatement on several occasions. Quite frankly, had his career trajectory continued for another nine seasons beyond the nine he played 1912-20, Weaver might have had an outside chance at the Hall of Fame. Lefty Williams, whose career spanned 1913-20, had a solid record of 82 wins and only 48 losses. In his last two seasons Williams went a combined 45-25, averaging 298 innings pitched per season. Continuing along that path could have led Williams to Cooperstown.

Right hand pitcher Eddie Cicotte, well established with a 14 year career - 1905-20, a 209 and 148 win-loss record and a rather impressive 2.38 Earned Run Average could also have made a run at Cooperstown. In his final two seasons Cicotte went 50 and 17, hurling more than 300 innings each season. Another half dozen seasons at that pace and Cicotte would have been a lock for the Hall of Fame. (Plenty of pitchers with worse records have plaques in Cooperstown.)

None of the above 14 deceased players banned by Landis that played fewer than 10 seasons of Major League Baseball can or will be admitted to the Hall of Fame. Nor should 14 year veteran Cicotte. Not even Jackson. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson had tremendous skills - fleet-afoot - could run down a fly ball in the outfield that no one else would reach. Jackson possessed great talent at the plate - in his 13 major league seasons spanning 1908-20 - Jackson hit an incredible .356 - good for fourth all time behind Ty Cobb’s .366, Oscar Charleston’s .365, and Rogers Hornsby’s .359. Four times Jackson collected more than 200 hits in a season. He showed no signs of slowing down as he led the American League with 20 triples in 1920. In his last two seasons Jackson batted .351 and .382. But throwing a World Series is akin to a capital crime and should never be rewarded. (No one from the 2017 Houston Astros should be admitted to Cooperstown for their “trashy” cheating, but that’s a story for another column.)

The difference between Cicotte, Jackson, and Rose is that Rose, who also gambled on baseball, did not bet against his own team. His competitive nature would not have allowed him to do so. A sterling example came in the 1970 All Star game - an exhibition game with no bearing on the regular season standings or statistics. With the game tied at four in the bottom of the 12th inning Rose hit a single. Two batters later, with Rose on second base, another base hit and Rose turned third heading toward the plate. Both Rose and the ball from outfield reach home plate simultaneously. Rose bulldozed through Ray Fosse, flipping him over backwards, as Rose scored the game winning run, while leaving the American League catcher flat on his back dazed and stunned for more than a few seconds. Several of his teammates and manager Earl Weaver poured out of the dugout to check on the injured Fosse, who would eventually go to a hospital. While Rose missed three games with a thigh bruise, Fosse would play the remainder of the season with a fractured and separated left shoulder which healed in the wrong place.  Fosse’s career was never the same.

Make no mistake, I am no fan of Pete Rose - I even told him as much in person having met him a number of years ago. I told him why - politely. My animus toward Rose had to do with an on-field fight he started during the 1973 National League playoffs between his Cincinnati Reds and my New York Mets. So while I told Rose I did not like him, I also told him I thought he belonged in the Hall of Fame. In fact, for years, since his banishment in 1989, I said Pete Rose will be inducted into the Hall of Fame a year or two after his death. This would be baseball’s final revenge on a less than contrite Rose, who for years denied he gambled on baseball. Not until his 2004 autobiography did Rose finally admit to betting on baseball - still not against his own team.

As a ball player, Rose, known as “Charlie Hustle,” holds the major league record for hits in a career with 4,256, games played at 3,562, won the Rookie of the Year award in 1963, MVP in 1973, three World Series titles, and was a 17 time All Star selection. For his performance on the field, Rose, who died September 30, 2024, should earn the necessary 12 votes from the Classic Baseball Era Committee in December 2027, and be enshrined in July 2028.

Although language from an electronic communication between Manfred and Jeffrey M. Lenkov, Rose’s attorney handling his several reinstatement applications, seems contradictory within itself. Manfred noted the only difference between the 2015 request for reinstatement and that made after the new year is the September 30 passing of Rose. Manfred explained, in his letter dated May 13, that a discussion had never ensued pertaining to the status of a deceased player on the permanently ineligible list. But Manfred referenced the term “lifetime ban,” a term oft-used instead of permanently ineligible. He noted the two expressions are not interchangeable. But Manfred seemed to endorse the definition of the latter, rather than the former based upon his announcement - meaning, Rose’s lifetime is over, and that should make him eligible again. For Manfred to remain consistent with Major League Baseball’s actual language, he would never have made the announcement.

This may be a matter of semantics, but the two terms have very different meanings. It all surrounds compliance with the language of Major League Baseball’s Rule 21, discussing conduct unbecoming, which includes gambling, specifically stating “permanently ineligible.” Manfred attempted to explain that with Rose deceased he could no longer violate Rule 21. 

“In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served. Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” wrote Manfred to Lenkov.

Manfred further contradicted himself, writing, “While it is my preference not to disturb decisions made by prior Commissioners…,” yet never mentioned Landis and the fact that 16 of the 17 players Manfred removed from the permanently ineligible list had been placed there by Landis. Manfred merely mentioned Rose in regard to former Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti and the decision made by his office.

My support of Rose for the Hall of Fame may ruffle more than a few feathers amongst sitting hall of famers. During the May 13 Mets game, just hours after Manfred’s announcement, Mets broadcaster Howie Rose reminded fans of something the late Ralph Kiner said years ago. Kiner is a hall of famer who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and became one of the Mets original announcers in 1962. Paraphrasing, Rose said Kiner said if Pete Rose got into the Hall of Fame, there would be many already enshrined Hall of Famers who would not return to Cooperstown. My question is, how many of those unnamed Hall of Famers are still alive today?

With all the gambling websites, with all the gambling advertisements during baseball games (and most other sports as well,) with all the discussion of odds on this team or that team, it seems rather hypocritical to keep a Pete Rose out of the Hall of Fame. He did not cheat like the 2017 Astros. He did not wager against his own team, like the 1919 White Sox. It seems baseball has come full circle - from gamblers with their mitts on the underside of baseball to a century later where the gambling is out in the open. Some would say that’s progress. I’m not so sure.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He has been a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum since 2007.