Yitzhar man indicted for spitting toward Jerusalem church door

The State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment Wednesday against a man accused of spitting toward the door of a church in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Avraham Antman, 19, of the settlement of Yitzhar, was charged with “insult to religion,” the formal name of an offense covering the destruction, damage or desecration of a place of worship or sacred object, intended to demean a religion, or knowingly likely to be regarded as an insult.

According to the indictment, Antman arrived in the area of the Prison of Christ Church during a circuit of gates in the Old City.

As he passed the church, the indictment alleges, he spat toward its door out of hatred for Christians and Arabs.