Roman Catholic priest spat on and insulted in Jerusalem
Jerusalem police tried to dissuade the victim from filing an official complaint about the attack.
On June 10, 2026, in Jerusalem, a group of Jewish radicals attacked a Catholic priest, Fr Firas Abedrabbo. The incident took place in the Old City as the cleric was leaving a restaurant near Damascus Gate after lunch with his human rights activist friends. This was reported by Persecuted Church Alerts.
Three young men from among religious Jews spat on the priest for several minutes, shouted insults at him, and used obscene gestures. The harassment continued for several minutes before his companions came outside and confronted the youths.
Despite the complaint that was filed, police made no arrests; moreover, law enforcement officers tried to dissuade the victim from filing an official statement.
Since the beginning of 2026, 88 cases of persecution of Christians have already been recorded in Israel, 63 of them in the last three months. Among the documented incidents are not only spitting and verbal abuse, but also vandalism, grave desecration, and arson attacks on Christian sites.
While Israeli authorities describe such actions as “isolated acts by a minority,” Jerusalem’s Christian clergy emphasize that the abuse has become an “everyday occurrence.” Lawyers point to a systemic atmosphere of impunity: over a decade, of 25 complaints filed over attacks, 19 were closed by police without criminal proceedings being opened.
As the UOJ reported, Israeli settlers set fire to Christian homes in the ancient town of Taybeh.
