Attack on nun in Jerusalem sparks outcry as tensions with Christians mount in Jerusalem
Hebrew University called the incident “part of a troubling pattern of rising hostility toward the Christian community.”
A nun sustained a head injury on April 28, 2026 after a man allegedly attacked her in the Old City of Jerusalem. (Screenshot/Israeli Police)
(JTA) — Israeli police arrested a man accused of attacking a nun on Tuesday in Jerusalem’s Old City, in an incident that comes amid ongoing tensions around the status of Christians in Israel.
The 36-year-old suspect, who was not identified by authorities, was questioned on suspicion of carrying out a racially motivated assault and is expected to appear before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for a hearing on extending his detention, according to the Times of Israel.
The nun, a researcher at the French School of Biblical and Archeological Research, sustained injuries from the attack including a bruise on her forehead, according to an image posted on X by the Israel Police.
“The Israel Police treats any attack on members of the clergy and religious communities with the utmost seriousness and applies a policy of zero tolerance to all acts of violence,” the Israel Police said. “In a city sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, we remain committed to protecting all communities and ensuring those responsible for violence are held accountable.
The director of the school, Olivier Poquillon, decried the “unprovoked assault” in a post on X, writing, “We strongly condemn this act of sectarian violence and expect the authorities to act swiftly and firmly.”
The arrest comes as tensions have flared in recent weeks between Christian communities in Israel and the government, with Israeli police briefly blocking top Catholic clergy from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ahead of Easter and Israeli soldiers drawing widespread condemnation for bludgeoning a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, also took aim last year at the Israeli government for treating Christian organizations as “adversaries.”
The recent tensions follow years of skirmishes between Orthodox Jews and Christians in the Old City of Jerusalem. An epidemic of spitting attacks, often by yeshiva students who subscribe to an extreme interpretation of the Bible’s injunction to “abhor” idol worshipers, spurred rabbinic rebuke in the past, but such incidents have persisted.
The faculty of humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which said the nun’s school was a partner organization, also condemned the latest attack, writing that it had been perpetrated by “extremists in the Old City.”
“This is not an isolated incident, but part of a troubling pattern of rising hostility toward the Christian community and its symbols,” the statement read. “As scholars of history and culture, we view this violence as a direct assault on the fundamental values of Jerusalem – a city whose strength lies in its religious pluralism and its commitment to safe, open dialogue.”
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