Jerusalem court finds man who attacked Catholic nun not criminally responsible due to mental illness

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Aug. 26 acquitted a 36-year-old man over the April assault of a French Catholic nun near a holy site, finding that he had committed the acts alleged in the indictment but was not criminally responsible because of mental illness, according to The Jerusalem Post. 

The Post reported that Judge Ophir Tischler ordered the attacker, Yona Simcha Schreiber, a Jewish settler residing in the West Bank, to be hospitalized for psychiatric treatment for up to six years. 

Schreiber had been charged with assault causing actual bodily harm motivated by hostility toward a religious group and with common assault after he allegedly punched and kicked a passerby who tried to help the nun, The Times of Israel reported. The principal assault charge carried a maximum prison sentence of three years, which would have been doubled if Schreiber had been convicted of acting out of hostility toward a religious group.

As Zeale News previously reported, footage shows Schreiber approaching the 48-year-old nun from behind and shoving her forcefully to the ground near the Cenacle or Upper Room in Jerusalem, the site Christians traditionally associate with the Last Supper and Pentecost. He then walked away before returning and kicking the nun as she lay on the ground.

The nun, a researcher at Jerusalem’s French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, sustained bruising to her face and leg. The school’s director said at the time that the attack appeared unprovoked and called it “sectarian violence.” 

The district psychiatrist diagnosed Schreiber with schizophrenia and said he had been psychotic for years and lacked insight into his illness, according to the Post. Although there was no conclusive evidence that specific psychotic thoughts caused the attack, the psychiatrist said Schreiber’s illness influenced his actions and concluded that Schreiber could neither understand the nature of his actions at the time of the attack nor refrain from carrying them out, according to the report.

Under the court order, the hospitalization carries a maximum of six years. A psychiatric committee may approve an earlier release.

According to the Post, the nun’s attorney, Zaki Sahlia, questioned the psychiatric findings, noting that Schreiber specifically targeted the nun amid other people nearby. Sahlia reportedly placed the attack in the broader context of recurring harassment and violence against Christian clergy in Jerusalem.

Sahlia said the nun was uncomfortable with the psychiatric findings but respected the court’s decision, the outlet reported. He said an appeal was unlikely, but he was “still studying the decision” and could pursue other avenues.