DUBAI: An Israeli setter has been acquitted of assault charges after attacking a French nun near Jerusalem’s Old City in April, according to various media reports. Yona Schreiber, from the Israeli-occupied West Bank settlement of Peduel, was absolved by a Jerusalem court on Wednesday of criminal responsibility after undergoing a psychiatric assessment. In his ruling to acquit Schreiber, Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Ofir Tishler accepted a psychiatrist’s testimony that the Israeli settler was in a psychotic state when he carried out the attack and had been unaware of his actions.

The ruling means that Shreiber cannot be held criminally responsible for the attack because of his mental condition at the time.

The ruling comes amid growing attacks by extremist settlers against Christians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank