Jerusalem court releases Catholic nun's attacker after mental health ruling

Catholic nuns. Illustrative photo: Sara Klatt/FLASH90

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court found 36-year-old Peduel resident Yona Simcha Schreiber responsible for attacking a French nun near King David’s Tomb but exempted him from criminal liability because of an alleged mental disorder, israelinfo.co.il reports.

According to Judge Ofir Tischler’s ruling, the defendant committed all the acts attributed to him, but was in a psychotic state at the time and was unable to understand what he was doing. The court ordered Schreiber to be placed in a psychiatric hospital for six years. A psychiatric board may shorten that period at its discretion.

The incident took place in May. According to the Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office, Schreiber was charged with assault and assault causing actual bodily harm motivated by religious hostility. After noticing a woman wearing Christian monastic clothing, he ran up to her, forcefully pushed her to the ground, and kicked her. When a passerby tried to intervene, the attacker also beat him with a series of punches and kicks.

The nun suffered a facial hematoma and bruising to her leg. Local investigators found that the attacker was a “right-wing activist,” a religious Zionist, co-founder of the Jewish Victory NGO, and an associate of the organization’s leader, Moshe Miron.

The court ruling drew sharp criticism from the victim’s legal team. Attorney Sahlia Zaki, who represents the nun, said after learning of the defendant’s diagnosis that the psychiatrists’ conclusion was baffling. He said acts of aggression and spitting directed at Christian clergy have become commonplace in Jerusalem, while attackers are repeatedly found mentally unfit and escape criminal responsibility.

The lawyer also pointed out that other people were present at the scene, yet Schreiber deliberately singled out the nun as his target. He suggested that motives unrelated to medicine may have influenced the psychiatric assessment.

As the UOJ reported, Jews in Jerusalem previously spat at and insulted a Catholic priest.

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