Citing mental illness, Jerusalem court acquits man who attacked nun, sends him to psychiatric facility

A judge on Wednesday 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, Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Ofir Tishler accepted testimony from a psychiatrist who determined that Yona Schreiber was in a psychotic state when he carried out the attack.

Video footage of the attack on the Old City’s Mount Zion in Jerusalem on April 28 showed a person identified as Schreiber running up to the French nun from behind and shoving her to the ground.

The attacker was seen walking away, then returning to kick the woman while she is down, and scuffling with a man who tries to stop him.

According to the indictment against Schreiber, in which he was charged with assault causing tangible bodily harm motivated by hostility toward a religious group, the nun sustained a bloody head wound and suffered dizziness as a result of the assault.

The assault occurred in front of the Cenacle, a building on Jerusalem’s Mount Zion considered holy to both Christians and Jews, the latter of whom regard it as the burial place of the biblical King David.

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 district psychiatrist determined that the unfortunate incident was the result of the accused’s mental illness and that he needs to be hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, and we hope that the medical treatment will help him to function normally again,”  Schreiber’s lawyer, Idan Gamlieli, said in a statement.

“It is important for us to note that we understand the difficult feelings of the complainant and wish her well in overcoming the consequences of this unfortunate incident,” he added.

???? Νέα επίθεση εποίκων στην κατεχόμενη Ιερουσαλήμ.
⛪ Τα ξημερώματα της Κυριακής, στην Αρμενική Συνοικία της κατεχόμενης Ιερουσαλήμ, έποικοι, υπό την προστασία της αστυνομίας κατοχής, επιτέθηκαν στην είσοδο της Μονής του Αγίου Ιακώβου.
???? Εκτόξευσαν πέτρες σε σπίτι Αρμένιας… pic.twitter.com/WDd1WOB6tT

— Embassy of the State of Palestine to Cyprus (@PalestineEmbCy) August 3, 2026

The assault unfolded against the backdrop of an uptick in attacks and harassment of Christians in Israel by Jewish extremists, including some who spat on people and churches out of an extreme interpretation of the Bible’s injunction to “abhor” idol worshipers.

The latest example of this was filmed on Tuesday outside the Saint James Monastery in the Old City’s Armenian Quarter.

What the fuck are they teaching these kids?!

Yet another hateful incident tonight in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, as a young religious Jew went out of his way to deliberality spit at the entrance to the Saint James Monastery.

See Christianity, spit. pic.twitter.com/yjtioYn8lP

— Kegham Balian (@kbalian90) August 25, 2026