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TEL AVIV – In a recent development that has stirred international concern, an Israeli man has been charged over a violent incident involving a nun near Jerusalem’s Old City. This case marks the latest in a troubling series of attacks on Christians and their religious symbols in the region.
The suspect, identified as 36-year-old Yona Schreiber, hails from Peduel, a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His indictment follows the circulation of a video capturing the assault, which has drawn widespread condemnation from both foreign and Christian leaders, prompting swift legal action.
Following his arrest last week, Schreiber is now facing charges, with Israel’s attorney general advocating for his continued detention throughout the legal proceedings. Schreiber’s lawyer, however, declined to provide comments to an Associated Press reporter during a court session.
The indictment details a disturbing account of Schreiber’s actions, noting that he targeted the woman because her attire—a Catholic nun’s habit—identified her religious affiliation. The attack reportedly involved pushing the nun to the ground and kicking her, as well as assaulting a bystander who attempted to intervene.
Schreiber has been formally charged with simple assault and an additional charge for assault driven by religious animosity, reflecting the grave nature of the incident.
Olivier Poquillon, the director of the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, said that the nun was a researcher at the school. He called the attack an “act of sectarian violence” in an X post.
Religious groups have documented a rise in acts of harassment and violence against Christian pilgrims and clergy as well as Palestinian Christian residents, including assaults and spitting, often by extremist ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The arrest comes as Israeli treatment of religious minorities is under scrutiny, weeks after police limited access for holiday worship in Jerusalem’s holiest sites because of security concerns during the Iran war.
Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was prohibited from holding a private Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, the first time in centuries Catholic leaders have been prevented from observing Palm Sunday at the church. After the uproar, Jerusalem police eventually worked out a compromise for a limited Easter Mass at the church.
Israel also drew international criticism after a soldier photographed himself bludgeoning a fallen statue of Jesus on the cross with an ax in southern Lebanon. Israeli leaders later disavowed the incident and said that he would be reprimanded, and assisted local residents in replacing the statue.
The Israeli military also opened an investigation into a soldier photographed shoving a cigarette into the mouth of the statue of the Virgin Mary, which was apparently photographed several weeks ago. The military said that it views the incident with “utmost severity.” And there have been questions and concern about Israeli soldiers bulldozing parts of a Catholic convent in southern Lebanon.
Last month, Israel’s Foreign Ministry appointed former Ambassador George Deek to be the special envoy to the Christian world, in response to the incidents. Deek previously served as Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan and was Israel’s first Arab Christian ambassador.
Deek condemned the soldier filmed smoking a cigarette with a statue of the Virgin Mary, and stressed that Israel “is committed to preserving religious freedom and the dignity of all religions.”
Israel’s founding declaration includes safeguarding freedom of religion and all holy places, and it portrays itself as an oasis of religious tolerance in a volatile region.
But some church authorities and monitoring groups have lamented a recent increase in anti-Christian sentiment and harassment. The issue is particularly pronounced in Jerusalem’s Old City, a densely populated area with narrow alleyways of ancient stones, which houses holy sites for Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Wadie Abunassar, the coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Forum, last week called attacks targeting Christians a growing phenomenon. He attributed the quick response to the attack on the nun to the fact that it was caught on video.
He said that he felt “great anger on the system and great sadness, because I feel that this will not end anytime soon.” One of the problems, he said, was insufficient deterrence against such violence.
“Many times in such cases there are no arrests and if there are arrests, sometimes after one or two days, (suspects) are released,” he added. “In some cases, the police do not recommend the prosecution to file charges or to indict them. And in some cases, when there is indictment, the indictment is mild.”
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Sam Metz contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.
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