Criminal9/18/2026

Haifa Resident Charged With Damaging a Church and Assaulting a Police Officer

An indictment was filed with the Haifa Magistrate's Court against Din Mor, 34, a resident of the Hadar HaCarmel neighborhood. He is charged with damaging a church window and assaulting a police officer, but neither a religious motive nor a hate crime in connection with the incident at the church was included in the indictment.

Key facts

•The defendant: Din Mor, 34, a Haifa resident
•The court: Haifa Magistrate's Court
•Damage to the church window: 1,180 shekels
•The detention was extended until further notice by the court
•The case number and exact calendar date were not specified in the source

What Happened at the Church

According to the prosecution's account, at around 8:00 a.m., Mor entered a church on HaPersim Street in Haifa, walked around the premises and climbed onto the priest's pulpit. A person who was present told him that he was not allowed to go up there and escorted him outside. Mor then allegedly threw a stone at a church window and broke it; the damage was estimated at 1,180 shekels.

The Incident at the Police Station

After his arrest, Mor was taken to the Haifa police station. According to the indictment, while waiting for a lawyer, he spat twice in the face of a Druze police officer and insulted him using a racist expression. According to the source, the defendant admitted to the acts attributed to him but claimed that he felt threatened both at the church and at the station.

The Detention Decision

Haifa Magistrate's Court Judge Inbal Keren extended Mor's detention until further notice. She noted that an initial review of the investigative materials indicated the existence of a preliminary evidentiary basis and grounds for detention. The defense sought his release, including under restrictive conditions barring him from approaching the church, citing his lack of prior convictions, his admission to the acts and the nature of the damage.

What Remains to Be Decided

The police prosecution unit is seeking to keep Mor in detention until the conclusion of the legal proceedings; a hearing on the matter is expected to take place next week. The indictment does not classify the incident at the church as harm to a holy place and does not indicate a religious motive or a hate crime. The source does not provide a final determination regarding his guilt: the case is at the indictment stage.

What this means for you

The filing of an indictment does not mean that a person has been found guilty—the court must decide that. The information also illustrates that the legal classification depends on the content of the charge: the mere fact that an incident occurred in a religious building was not defined in this case as an offense motivated by religion or as a hate crime. The question of whether the defendant will remain in detention will be considered separately.

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Case analysis based on court rulings