The police have already arrested the perpetrator. “A request to extend pre-trial detention is expected. Israel Police treats any attack on clergy and members of religious communities with the utmost seriousness and has a zero-tolerance policy towards all acts of violence. In a city holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, we remain committed to protecting all communities and ensuring that perpetrators of violence are held accountable,” Israeli law enforcement officials said.
He knocked the nun down and started kicking her. Shocking footage from Israel
A video showing the moment of the attack appeared on the Internet. “The picture of growing hostility towards the Christian community in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and southern Lebanon is becoming increasingly clear. Violence that this time did not spare the French nun attacked […] in Jerusalem. […]. We continue to appeal to the Israeli government to guarantee religious freedom and the presence of Christians, who have always been advocates of peace in the Middle East,” wrote Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy on X.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack. The statement said that “this despicable act is in direct conflict with the values of respect, coexistence and religious freedom on which Israel is founded and to which it remains deeply committed.”
The auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, William Shomali, also reacted to the case, calling the attack “extremely serious and despicable.” The hierarch spoke to the Turkish Anatolia news agency.
Bishop Shomali praised the police for their quick response, emphasizing that in many similar situations that occurred in the past, they did not react so efficiently. The bishop emphasized that “the police themselves described this event as a 'racist attack'.”
In recent years, the Christian community in Jerusalem has been complaining about the increasing number of acts of aggression and violence by Orthodox Jews and the lack of response to such events on the part of the authorities. The decision of Israeli police not to allow the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballi, into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in that city on Palm Sunday was widely criticized.
