Report: Armenian Christian boy maced in Jerusalem while riding bike with headphones during Yom Kippur
Israeli TV says cops have reopened case after initially closing it despite assault being caught on video; boy’s mother says he is now scared of outwardly Jewish-looking people
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A nine-year-old Armenian Christian boy was reportedly attacked by a Jewish extremist in Jerusalem for riding his bike with headphones on during Yom Kippur earlier this week.
Channel 13 news aired footage on Friday of the boy receiving treatment from paramedics in an ambulance after he was pepper-sprayed.
The network said it was the second time that the boy was attacked. The first time he was with his father, who protected him, but this time he was alone.
Despite being recorded on security cameras, police initially closed the case without making any arrests, according to the outlet, which said the investigation would be reopened and the security footage collected as evidence.
The boy’s mother told Channel 13 that her son had a hard time sleeping since the attack and has become fearful of outwardly Jewish-looking individuals.
Speaking separately with the Haaretz daily, she said the assailant flagged down her son as he was riding his bike outside the Old City and assaulted him after realizing he did not speak Hebrew.
“[My son] stopped, removed his headphone and said something to him in English, than he maced him,” she said.
תסתכלו על וויליאם. הוא בן 9 . בריונים קיצוניים התיזו עליו פלפל. כל חטאו שהיה שביום כיפור הוא רכב על אופניים סמוך לממילא בירושלים ושמע, רחמנא ליצלן, מוזיקה באוזניות. הם ניגשו אליו באיומים, דרשו שיוריד את האוזניות. הוא עשה את זה , אבל אז הם שמעו שהוא מדבר באנגלית. No English ,… pic.twitter.com/ofcfJxDnak
— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) September 24, 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.
Some of the harassment has occurred in the Old City of Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter, where police last month arrested a number of suspects for spitting and throwing stones at the Armenian Patriarchate compound.
In April, after a series of similar incidents, the Foreign Ministry appointed veteran diplomat George Deek to a newly created role of special envoy to the Christian world.
The Times of Israel Community.