The two young Israeli Embassy employees killed by a gunman at a Jewish museum in Washington had big dreams of building bridges and promoting dialogue in the conflict-ridden Middle East, according to people who knew them.

Yaron Lischinsky, a research assistant in the embassy's political section, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, a member of the embassy's administrative staff, who were about to get engaged, were killed by a suspect identified by Washington police as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago.

Police said the suspect then entered the museum and chanted "free Palestine, free Palestine" after being taken into custody by event security.