Israeli who ‘pushed nun to the bottom and kicked her’ is charged with spiritual assault as IDF troop is newest to desecrate Christian statue

An Israeli man suspected of shoving a French Catholic nun to the ground and kicking her in Jerusalem has been charged with assault motivated by religious hostility, Israel‘s state attorney’s office said on Thursday.

The April 28 attack was condemned by Christian clergy in Jerusalem and came amid a rise in harassment of religious officials and pilgrims by religious Jews in the walled Old City, home to sites holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews.

Yonah Shreiber, 36, was arrested a day after the attack. CCTV footage shows the attacker, wearing a Jewish kippah and ritual tassels, chase the nun from behind before pushing her to the ground. 

He then began to kick a passerby who tried to intervene, the footage shows.

The man ‘was charged with assault causing actual injury motivated by hostility toward the public on the grounds of religion, as well as simple assault,’ the state attorney’s office said in a statement.

The nun suffered bruises on her face and leg due to the attack, the statement said. 

Jerusalem’s Old City in recent years has seen frequent incidents in which religious Jews spit on Christian sites or otherwise try to intimidate Christians and Christian clergy in the city, members of the city’s Christian community say. 

It comes as the Israeli military said Thursday it would investigate after a soldier was photographed placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon.

An image appearing to show an Israeli soldier with his arm around the revered Christian figure and holding a cigarette up to her mouth was widely shared on social media on Wednesday.

When asked for its response to the image, the Israeli military said it ‘views the incident with utmost severity and emphasises that the conduct of the soldier completely deviates from the values expected of its personnel.’

‘The incident will be investigated, and command measures will be taken against the soldier in accordance with the findings,’ it added.

It said that an initial review showed the image was taken several weeks ago.

The act was also condemned by the Roman Catholic Church’s representative in Israel. 

‘This is disrespectful and outrageous behaviour that must stop immediately,’ the Custodia Terrae Sanctae was quoted as saying by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

‘We call on the Israeli government and the IDF to act and send a clear message that such behaviour is unacceptable, must not happen again, and that the case be handled with the utmost seriousness.’

It is not the first time the Israeli military has come under fire in recent weeks over soldiers’ conduct surrounding Christian statues in southern Lebanon.

In late April, the military said two soldiers would receive 30 days of military detention and be removed from combat duty over the destruction of a statue of Jesus Christ in the south Lebanese village of Debl.

In that incident, a photo was shared online showing an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross.

Six additional soldiers were present at the scene and did not act to stop the incident or report it, the military said.

These troops, ‘who stood by have been summoned for clarification discussions that will be held later on, after which further command-level measures will be determined’.

‘The IDF expresses deep regret over the incident and emphasizes that its operations in Lebanon are directed solely against the Hezbollah terrorist organization and other terrorist groups, and not against Lebanese civilians,’ the Israeli army said.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, criticised what he called a ‘shameful and disgraceful’ act.

‘I am confident that necessary severe measures will be taken against whoever committed this ugly act,’ he wrote on X.

‘We apologise for this incident and to every Christian whose feelings were hurt,’ he added.

The Israeli military said on Thursday it ‘respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities’.

It added that it had ‘no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols.’

Meanwhile, thousands of Israeli troops continue to occupy an area of southern Lebanon after a ceasefire deal came into force between Israel and Lebanon on April 16.

However the truce has failed to create peace, as Iranian-linked group Hezbollah and Israel have repeatedly accused each other of violations.

At least 2,715 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

And 17 soldiers and one civilian have been killed in southern Lebanon, along with two civilians in northern Israel, Israeli authorities have said.