"Jewish terrorist" Jack Teitel
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Jewish terrorist seeks leave to attend son's brit
Attorney for Jack Teitel, who's serving 2 life sentences for murder of 2 Palestinians, host of other offenses, requested his client receive leave from prison to attend son's brit mila this coming Saturday; 'Thousands of terrorists have been released in past few years—I'm only asking to be present for my son's brit,' Teitel says.
Convicted murderer Yaakov (Jack) Teitel—dubbed the "Jewish terrorist"—who is currently serving two life sentences for murdering two Palestinians, appealed to the Israel Prison Service (IPS) Sunday and asked to be allowed to attend his son's brit mila (circumcision).
Teitel's request, submitted by attorney Azriel Friedenberg of the Honenu organization, noted the convicted murderer was willing to "consent to every condition" mandated by the IPS. "We request he be allowed to take an irregular vacation for the brit ceremony considering the exceedingly special circumstances," the request said.
The convict also had a boy two years ago, but the brit ceremony took place on a weekday and was within the prison's confines. The current case poses more of a problem for the father, as it will be held on Shabbat, which means that if it was also allowed to take place within the prison its guests will have to stay there the entire Shabbat—which most likely will not be approved.
'Jewish terrorist' Jack Teitel requested leave from prison to attend his son's brit (Photo: Gila Yohanan)
In a conversation with his attorney, Teitel said, "Thousands of terrorists have been released home in the past few years—I'm merely asking to be present for my son's brit. I'll go back to prison later. I expect to receive this small bit of compassion at the very least."
Teitel, who resided in the West Bank after coming to Israel from the United States, was arrested in October 2009 on suspicion of murdering two Palestinians nearly a decade prior.
An amended indictment submitted against him in November of that year listed ten offenses, the most grievous of which were two counts of premeditated murder, two attempted murders, possession and manufacture of firearms and incitement to violence.
The defendant initially admitted to all charges, and in May of 2012 admitted to the charges listed in the amended indictment. The verdict then focused on his legal culpability to the ten offenses he was accused of.
The first murder Teitel was convicted of took place in 1997. Samir Akram Balbisi, then a bus driver, contacted Teitel and offered to provide him transportation. Teitel agreed, boarded the vehicle and then instructed the Palestinian to stop at a certain point. When he saw Akram Balbisi's eyes were looking ahead, he shot him at close range.
Teitel was convicted of the racially-motivated murders of two Palestinians (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Three months following the first murder Teitel had decided to kill another Palestinian. When searching for a victim in the Susya settlement in southern Har Hevron, he noticed a shepherd, Issa Jabarin, walking alone and shot him twice in the chest at close range.
Teitel was also found guilty of the 2008 attempted murder of then 15-year-old Ami Ortiz. Teitel placed explosives in a Purim package delivered to Ortiz's home, because he believed that the teen was the leader of a messianic cult. Ortiz suffered serious injuries as a result.
The court further found Teitel guilty of incitement to violence and terror, after he publicly pledged a NIS 20,000 (roughly $5,000) reward to anyone killing gay men and women and "ridding the earth of this Sodom and Gomorrah."
A flyer he printed and distributed to that effect offered detailed instructions on how to construct a Molotov cocktail.
He was also convicted of targeting Prominent Israeli historian Professor Ze'ev Sternhell in 2008 by planting a pipe bomb in a plant outside his house. Luckily, Sternhell was only lightly wounded.
