Israeli court acquits settler in attack on French nun citing mental illness

An Israeli court on Wednesday acquitted a settler who was filmed attacking a French nun in Jerusalem, after accepting a medical report that said he was in a psychotic state at the time of the incident and was not criminally responsible for his actions.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court acquitted Yona Schreiber after accepting the opinion of a psychiatrist who said he was in a “psychotic state at the time of the attack”.

The court ordered Schreiber to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital for treatment after finding that he had committed the acts listed in the indictment, but ruled that he was not criminally responsible for them because of his mental state at the time.

On May 7, Israel’s prosecution filed an indictment against Schreiber, 36, over his attack on a French Christian nun in Jerusalem on April 28.

According to the indictment, Schreiber saw the nun wearing her religious habit, followed her and pushed her forcefully to the ground. He then returned and kicked her while she was lying on the ground. He also punched and kicked a passer-by who tried to intervene and stop the attack.

The prosecution charged him with assault causing bodily injury motivated by hostility towards a religious group, and common assault.

Video footage captured the attack, which prompted official condemnation from France and calls for the assailant to be held accountable.

The French Consulate General in Jerusalem strongly condemned the attack and called for the assailant to be brought to justice.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on May 2 that he had spoken to the nun, expressed his support and wished her a speedy recovery, adding that the perpetrator “must receive a deterrent punishment”.