U.S.-Born Jew, Alleged Terrorist, Charged With Murder
An alleged U.S.-born Jewish terrorist was indicted for two murders and three attempted murders.
Yaakov (Jack) Teitel appeared in Jerusalem District court Thursday, where he was charged with the murders of two Arabs and attempted murders of Jews. He was also indicted on several other charges, including smuggling firearms into Israel, and violence against Arabs, gays and lesbians, leftists, police officers and messianic Jews.
The court also agreed to hold Teitel in prison until the end of legal proceedings against him.
“It was a pleasure and an honor to serve my God. I have no regret and no doubt that God is pleased,” Teitel reportedly said in the courtroom.
Teitel, 37, was arrested Oct. 7 in a joint police-Shin Bet operation. Along with allegedly killing the two Palestinians, he also allegedly assembled a package bomb that seriously injured the son of a messianic Jew and set up a pipe bomb near the home of prominent professor Ze’ev Sternhell.
A Florida native, Teitel made aliyah in 2000 and is a resident of the Shvut Rachel outpost in the northern West Bank. He has four young children.
Teitel is reported to have confessed to the two murders. A court-appointed psychiatrist has found Teitel fit to stand trial, according to reports.
Several families of victims hurt by Teitel said they would file a civil suit of about $1 million against him, The Jerusalem Post reported.
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