A Jerusalem court acquitted a man charged three months ago with assaulting a nun in Jerusalem’s Old City on the grounds of temporary insanity, Israel’s Kan public television reported on Wednesday.
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled that Yona Schreiber, a 36-year-old man arrested in April on suspicion of assaulting a nun near the Tomb of David, suffered a psychotic episode at the time of the incident and therefore was not responsible for his actions.
According to the public broadcaster’s report, the court accepted the district psychiatrist’s assessment, acquitting Schreiber and ordering that he be hospitalized.
Attorney Idan Gamlieli, who represented Schreiber on behalf of the Public Defender’s Office, reportedly said he and his client hope that “medical treatment will help him return to optimal functioning,” adding that they “understand the complainant’s distress and wish her well in overcoming the effects of the incident.”
In April, the Israel Police arrested Schreiber, taking him in for questioning on suspicion of assault with a racist motive.
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At a Knesset hearing a month after the assault, opposition MK Gilad Kariv said the man committed “an act of terror in every sense,” praising police for the arrest but saying authorities must do more.
Security footage from the incident shows Schreiber running behind the nun before pushing her to the ground and walking away. The woman’s head can be seen hitting a stone structure on the ground before the man is seen returning, kicking her and fighting witnesses who intervened.
Kariv, who chairs the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, said at the time that attacks on Christians in Israel “cast a moral stain on the State of Israel and Israeli society.” He added, “As a rabbi in the Reform community, I am ashamed of them.”
Noa Shpigel and Nir Hasson contributed to this report.