From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Man who attacked nun in Jerusalem indicted on assault charges with religious hatred motivation
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Yona Schreiber, the man who is accused of violently shoving a nun to the ground in Jerusalem last month, is indicted on charges of assault causing actual bodily harm, motivated by hatred toward a religious group.
The State Attorney’s Office has requested that Schreiber, who is 36 and a resident of the West Bank settlement of Peduel, be kept in custody until the end of the legal proceedings against him.
Video footage of the incident, which took place in April in front of the Cenacle holy site on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, showed Schreiber running up to the nun from behind and shoving her to the ground. He is then seen walking away, then returning to kick the woman while she is still lying on the ground.
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
A passerby intervened to stop Schreiber’s assault against the woman, whereupon Schreiber attacked that man as well.
The nun sustained a bloody head wound as a result of Schreiber’s attack, and also suffered from dizziness following the assault, the indictment says.
החשוד בתקיפת הנזירה – והקשר לגורמי ימין קיצוניים | מבדיקה שערכנו עולה שיונה שרייבר, שנעצר בחשד לתקיפה האכזרית שהתרחשה ביום שלישי בעיר העתיקה, הוא אחד ממייסדי עמותת "הניצחון היהודי" עם פעיל הימין משה מירון – שמוכר כמי שמגיע להפגנות עם השלט "שמאלנים בוגדים" >> pic.twitter.com/ewplKfOTut
— טוביה יגלניק (@tuvyayagelnik) May 1, 2026
Schreiber is indicted for assault on both the nun and and the passerby.
Assault causing actual bodily harm carries a sentence of up to three years in prison, while such a crime motivated by hostility toward a specific group carries double the original sentence.
The Times of Israel Community.