Trial Begins for Alleged Jewish Terrorist
The trial of alleged U.S.-born Jewish terrorist Yaakov (Jack) Teitel opened in Jerusalem.
Teitel is charged with two counts of murders, five counts of attempted murders, incitement, weapons violations and one count of arson. His trial began in Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday.
Teitel reportedly refused to stand when requested to by the judge. The only words he uttered in the courtroom, according to reports, was “God is King.”
Teitel, 37, was arrested Oct. 7 in a joint police-Shin Bet operation. Along with allegedly killing two Palestinians and the attempting to murder five Jews and Arabs, 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 left-wing 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.
Several relatives of Teitel’s victims were in the courtroom during the hearing.
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