American-born Yaakov “Jack” Teitel
arrested last month for carrying out a string of terrorists attacks
in Israel has claimed credit for an August attack on a Tel Avivi gay
club that left 2 young people dead and 10 others wounded, CNN
reported.
Prosecutors indicted Teitel Thursday
with 14 charges, including two counts of premeditated murder, three
attempted murders and other acts of violence.
The thirty-seven-year-old moved from
Florida to Israel 12 years ago. He currently resides in the West
Bank settlement of Shevut Rachel.
Teitel was arrested October 7 as he
hung up flyers in support of the attack on the gay club in an
ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem. While he has claimed
credit for the attack, investigators have dismissed his confession.
Two young people died during the attack
that rocked the otherwise gay-friendly city of Tel Aviv. Nir Katz,
26, a counselor at the club, and Liz Trubeshi, 16, fell when a
masked, lone gunman stormed the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association
building and sprayed automatic fire in a basement room as a support
group for gay teens assembled, before escaping.
A crowd estimated at more than 70,000
attended an event to express solidarity with the gay and lesbian
community held in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square after the attack. Israeli
President Shimon Peres told the crowd that “the man who targeted
the two victims targeted all of us.”
Teitel sees himself as an emissary of
God, his attorney said. Teitel told reporters before his court
hearing that it had been a “pleasure” and an “honor” to serve
his God.
“He was like a serial killer,” said
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. “He was deeply involved
in terrorism on all different levels.”
Anti-gay sentiment in Israel remains
high. An August Haaretz newspaper poll reported that 46% of
498 people agreed to the question “Do you see homosexuality as a
perversion?”