Jerusalem court acquits man charged in nun attack on insanity defence

A Jerusalem court judge acquitted a man accused of attacking a Catholic nun based on an insanity defence, but ordered that he be committed to a psychiatric hospital for up to six years. CCTV footage of the April incident captured the moment the nun was forced to the ground from behind, causing her to hit her head on a stone wall before being kicked. She was walking in Jerusalem’s Old City during the daytime when the attack occurred.The more than 5,000-year-old Old City is surrounded by 16th-century Ottoman walls in East Jerusalem and is divided into four quarters: Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian. Nuns walk on their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the old city of Jerusalem on May 3, 2026. HAZEM BADER / AFP via Getty Images Clergy and advocates say verbal abuse and spitting have grown increasingly common in the densely packed heart of Jerusalem, where multi-faith occupants cross paths daily, mostly peacefully, as they visit some of the most sacred sites in their respective religions, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Western Wall and the Temple Mount. Story continues below advertisement The violent beating of the nun was seen as a rare escalation in a ...