Police Arrest Suspect After Nine-Year-Old Christian Boy Pepper-Sprayed in Jerusalem

A nine-year-old Armenian Christian boy was pepper-sprayed while riding his bicycle near Jerusalem’s Mamilla Mall during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. The child, identified as William, reported that a man confronted him regarding his music and, upon realizing the boy did not speak Hebrew, shouted at him before spraying him and a friend. The victim was treated in an ambulance following the incident, which his mother noted has left him traumatized.

Israeli police have arrested a 22-year-old man from the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Ganei Modi’in in connection with the attack. While the case was initially closed, authorities reopened the investigation following media coverage. Police stated they are treating the incident with gravity, particularly due to potential nationalist or racist motives. George Deek, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s envoy to Christians, condemned the violence, emphasizing that such acts against children are unacceptable and that the perpetrator must be held accountable.