From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Citing mental illness, Jerusalem court acquits Israeli man filmed attacking French nun
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The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court has acquitted an Israeli man who was filmed assaulting a French nun in the capital’s Old City in April, concluding that he suffers from mental illness and ordered that he be hospitalized in a psychiatric facility for six years.
In his ruling, Judge Ofir Tishler accepted testimony from a psychiatrist who determined that Yona Schreiber was in a psychotic state when he carried out the attack.
תקיפת הנזירה אתמול באזור קבר דוד בירושלים – שוטרי מרחב דוד איתרו את החשוד (36) ועצרו אותו בחשד לתקיפה ממניע גזעני >>> pic.twitter.com/agRpznR84X
— משטרת ישראל (@IL_police) April 30, 2026
The incident unfolded against the backdrop of an uptick of attacks and harassment of Christians in Israel by Jewish extremists.
The phenomenon has included extremists spitting at Christian clergy and holy sites, with the latest example of this filmed on Tuesday outside the Saint James Monastery in the Old City’s Armenian Quarter.
The Times of Israel Community.