Among those who flew into Colorado to participate in the community vigil scheduled for June 4 at the Boulder JCC was Israel’s Consul General in Los Angeles, Israel Bachar.
Shortly after landing and en route to Boulder to visit the site of the June 1 attack, as well as to meet with lawmakers and community members, Bachar spoke with the IJN.
IJN: What was it like for you and your staff to hear about the murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky?
Consul General Israel Bachar: They worked in the embassy in DC but were basically our colleagues. It was very much devastating and surprising in a way. Nobody expected a blood-cold murder in DC.
It’s another proof that terrorism does not have boundaries. It doesn’t matter if you are in DC or in Boulder. When people are incited, they take the law into their hands and murder people. They murdered Yaron and Sarah because they were Jews, and [they attacked] the group in Boulder because there were Jews who were protesting quietly to release the Israeli hostages that were being held in Gaza for the last 600 days.
The Hamas pro-Palestinian movement here in America is becoming more and more dangerous. Their supporters become violent. They align themselves with radical Islam and sometimes with the radical left, like what happened in DC.
The pro-Palestinian movement aligns itself right now with two other movements.
[quote]There’s only one way to fight evil. It’s to stand against it[/quote]
One is the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is radical Islam. The second is the radical left and neo-Marxist group. And eventually they’re becoming more and more violent.
They are also ideologies that endangers America. In their nature, they are against democracy. They are against solving issues in a peaceful manner.
And they do believe that they need to globalize the intifada, which is a call for violence. You never hear this kind of chant from the American Jewish groups or from any other Israeli supported groups. We never call for violence.
It’s a shame that American citizens are being murdered because they are using and exercising their free speech to stand quietly and in a very civil way to protest or to show their support for the hostages.
One member of the Boulder city council [Taishya Adams] is continuing to say that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are two different things. After Washington and Boulder, what is your response?
First of all, it’s wrong.
Two, she’s doing it because they want to go after the Jews through using the anti-Zionism theme. But you cannot separate the two today.
[The murders of Milgrim and Lischinsky and the attack in Boulder] prove my point, not her point.
You can be in dispute with Israel politically or geopolitically, like any other country. That’s OK.
But when you are saying, “I’m anti-Zionist,” you’re saying Israel does not have the right to exist as a democracy in the Middle East, period.
That’s pure anti-Semitism. Because you are basically saying that the Jews do not have any claim or do not have the right for self-definition, just because they are Jews.
It’s very upsetting to know that in 2025 an elected official is acting this way.
Is there a general message of solidarity that you would like to share with people as a representative of Israel?
The people, the community, who every Sunday protest quietly to release the hostages, we appreciate them a lot. They’re standing for Israel. They’re standing for the hostages.
I came here today to show support to the Boulder community and the region and to call for peace and unity and to make sure that the community is strong. I want them to be resilient and moving forward and knowing that they are never alone.
There’s only one way to fight evil. It’s to stand against it.
© IJN 2025
