Key facts
- An Israeli court acquitted Yona Schreiber, a Jewish settler, of assaulting a Catholic nun.
- The acquittal was based on grounds of mental illness.
- The attack occurred in April outside the Cenacle on Mount Zion.
- The nun required medical treatment after being pushed and kicked in the head.
- The ruling comes amid a documented increase in attacks on Christians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
An Israeli court has acquitted Yona Schreiber, a Jewish settler from the occupied West Bank settlement of Peduel, of assaulting a French Catholic nun near Jerusalem’s Old City. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled on Wednesday that Schreiber should be acquitted on the grounds of "mental illness".
Schreiber attacked the 48-year-old nun in April outside the Cenacle on Mount Zion, a site considered holy by both Christians and Jews. The nun, who is a researcher at Jerusalem’s French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, was pushed to the ground and kicked in the head, requiring medical treatment.
Schreiber's lawyer, Idan Gamliel, called the incident an "unfortunate incident" and acknowledged the nun's "difficult feelings" over the assault. The attack drew international condemnation and is part of a documented increase in attacks by Jewish extremists against Christians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
A report by the Rossing Centre for Education and Dialogue documented a sharp rise in attacks on Christians, describing a "continued and expanding pattern of intimidation and aggression." The report recorded 155 incidents in 2025, including 61 physical assaults, 52 attacks on church property, 28 cases of harassment, and 14 instances of vandalised signage, noting that these figures likely represent only a fraction of the actual occurrences.