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Jerusalem Armenian Monastery Attack Leads to Six Arrests — AI-generated representative image: The entrance of St. James Armenian Monastery in Jerusalem's Old City, where six suspects were arrested following an attack on

Editorial Team

Assault on St. James Monastery underscores surge in anti-Christian hate crimes amid criticism of inadequate official response

Israeli police arrested six religious Jews, including five minors, after they attacked the historic St. James Armenian Monastery in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday night. The assailants were captured on video spitting on and banging against the monastery entrance before throwing stones at the compound walls and at a nearby resident who attempted to film the incident.

The attack is the latest in a sharply escalating wave of violence against Christians, clergy and church property across Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories. Church leaders warn that priests and pilgrims are routinely subjected to spitting, cursing and physical assault, with reported incidents nearly doubling between 2023 and 2025 and on track to set another record this year.

Arrests and Immediate Measures

Police located and arrested all six suspects following the attack. Three have been barred from entering the Old City for 15 days, while authorities have petitioned a Jerusalem court to extend the detention of the remaining three individuals.

The Armenian Patriarchate has filed a formal complaint and called on US Ambassador Mike Huckabee to press Israeli authorities to recognize such incidents as hate crimes. The monastery serves as the regional headquarters of the Armenian Church.

Pattern of Escalating Violence

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that young religious Jews have openly described humiliating Christians as a religious duty. The newspaper documented at least a dozen spitting incidents near the Armenian church during a single nationalist march in May. In April, a Jewish extremist shoved a French nun to the ground on Mount Zion, leaving her with a head injury. Some nuns are now reportedly too afraid to walk through Jerusalem alone and rely on daily volunteer escorts.

Dormition Abbey Abbot Nikodemus Schnabel told the outlet that Christians today are routinely "hit, spit at, beaten," adding that this is "not the case of one lost soul" and that many similar incidents are never documented.

Official Responses and Political Context

Critics say extremists have been emboldened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government and senior officials such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. In a 2017 radio interview, Ben-Gvir defended spitting at priests and churches as an "ancient Jewish tradition" and questioned why the practice should be treated as a crime. After assuming responsibility for Israeli law enforcement, he argued again in 2023 that spitting on Christians was "not a criminal case."

Israeli officials have insisted they are confronting the problem and view violence and racism "with the utmost severity." However, church leaders say complaints frequently produce little action and warn that continued violence, settlement expansion and political hostility are driving some of the Holy Land's oldest Christian communities to leave.

What Comes Next

The Jerusalem court has yet to rule on the police request to extend detention for three of the suspects. The Armenian Patriarchate's formal complaint remains under review, and it is unclear whether Israeli authorities will classify the incident as a hate crime as requested. According to the Rossing Center, reported anti-Christian incidents are on course to reach another record in 2026.