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Last update - 22:49 01/11/2009
Settler leaders: Jewish terrorist does not represent us
By Chaim Levinson, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Yaakov Teitel 

The Yesha Council of Settlements was quick to condemn on Sunday the actions of Yaakov Teitel, a resident of the West Bank outpost Shvut Rachel arrested last month on suspicion of murdering two Palestinians and orchestrating a number of other bomb attacks.

"Acts of the kind allegedly committed by Yaakov Teitel are grave, prohibited and unacceptable. The security forces should be congratulated for discovering him," Danny Dayan, chairman of the Yesha Council of settlements, said on Sunday after a gag order on Teitel's arrest was lifted.

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Any person of conscience in Israel must rise up in indignation against such acts, as well as against any despicable attempt to use them to gain political capital by blaming an entire community that is not connected  and is in fact vehemently opposed - to such actions," Dayan added.

Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah, a liberal religious-Zionist movement, said that it "condemns any kind of violence. There is no justification for these heinous acts in the Torah, which espouses kindness and peace. However, we ask that people avoid pointing fingers and casting blame on an entire community because of the acts of one person."

Residents of the West Bank outpost Shvut Rachel were shocked to learn
that their neighbor Teitel had been arrested for allegedly orchestrating a string of violent attacks against targets as disparate as Palestinians, the gay community, Messianic Jews and prominent left-wing figures.

The residents of the north-West Bank settlement convened an emergency meeting after hearing the news, in which the amazed members decided that Teitel should be deemed innocent until proven otherwise.

The settlement issued a statement condemning the attacks for which Teitel is suspected, and appointed spokesmen to deal with the press.

Sh'maya Tiram, the settlement's spokesperson, told Haaretz on Sunday that fellow residents knew Teitel "as a quiet man, who was uninvolved in the community on a social level."

"With regard to the actions attributed to him, we are waiting for the judicial system to bring the truth to light," Tiram said, adding that the community would not let the suspicions bring it down.

Teitel is the second suspected Jewish terrorist to emerge from Shvut Rachel, despite the settlement's otherwise tranquil character. In 2005, Asher Weisgen, a former resident and local bus driver, shot four Palestinian workers to death in Shiloh's commercial district, subsequently committing suicide.

Like Teitel, Weisgen was also considered something of an outcast in the 120 -family settlement, with one resident calling his attack not "a nationalistically-motivated one, but one meant to gain attention."

There were no known relations between Teitel and Weisegen however.

Addressing the fact that Teitel is the second person to come out of the settlement to be implemented in violent activities, Tiram said the community could not "be held responsible for the actions of a private person. We have education workers, hi-tech employees, people who've served in the army."

"Teitel and Weisgen, that's just bad luck. Our community is not like that, we do not educate our children in that way," the settlement's spokesman said, adding that Shvut Rachel is "a happy community. Things have happened, but they are the product of bad luck which does not hint at the prevailing social environment."

Teitel's brother-in-law and fellow Shvut Rachel resident, Moshe Avitan, was especially blunt speaking to Haaretz on Sunday.

"If the suspicions are verified, then that goes beyond just being against him and his actions, it's and offence against our family," Avitan said. "With a wife and children, it's downright irresponsible."

"When you do these kinds of things you only hurt your family, and it's the family that is left with the burden of it all. It feels like we've been betrayed," Avidan added.

Avidan also said he felt Teitel should have come clean about his actions, especially since some of them allegedly took place over a decade ago.

"You can say that a person just flipped mid-life. A person that went through things and went on to get married. He should have said 'I did so and so.' He didn't," Teitel's brother-in-law added, saying that the family was steeped in shock and that he is sure Teitel's wife would "reconsider how to proceed."

Shvut Rachel is not officially recognized as an independent community, even though it is run as a separate council, with the State of Israel considering it a neighborhood of nearby Shiloh.

Related articles:
  • Alleged Jewish terrorist arrested for murder, string of bomb attacks
  • Who is suspected Jewish terrorist, Yaakov Teitel?
  • Shvut Rachel man convicted of murdering 5 Arabs in attempt to derail disengagement
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    Jewish terrorism
    Settler Yaakov Teitel allegedly killed two Palestinians, carried out string of bomb attacks.
    Sucking up to Israel
    Now is the time to say to U.S.: Enough flattery. Change your tone, or nothing will change.
      1.   No - just the average bunch of illegal settlers! 18:27  |  Sceptic 01/11/09
      2.   He has admitted his guilt 18:38  |  Chris Linthwaite 01/11/09
      3.   not a community of extremists? 19:07  |  skeptic 01/11/09
      4.   Will the Left and EU defend them? 19:19  |  Binyamin Dissen 01/11/09
      5.   Bulldoze his house! 19:46  |  Apa 01/11/09
      6.   How thoughtful 20:56  |  Axel 01/11/09
      7.   All settlement present a problem 22:09  |  zvuv 01/11/09
      8.   Just another illegal squatter..... 22:19  |  Silvienne 01/11/09
      9.   benjamin dissen 4 22:58  |  potobac 01/11/09
      10.   Courts of law in Israel 22:58  |  Jackie 01/11/09
      11.   A question to Chris 23:15  |  VR 01/11/09
      12.   Does the Torah condone land theft Ne`emanei Torah Va`Avodah 23:25  |  labhras 01/11/09
      13.   Typical .... 23:35  |  Welshman 01/11/09
      14.   Squatter Leaders and Jewish terrorism? 23:45  |  jim the mechanic 01/11/09
      15.   The difference 00:07  |  Mark Lincoln 02/11/09
      16.   Teitel obviously killed Rabin. 00:31  |  Ethan 02/11/09
      17.   # 5 i think we`re ALL waiting for THAT, apa 01:16  |  eric 02/11/09
      18.   Don`t blame the man,blame those who force Jews to leave Jewish 01:56  |  Settler 02/11/09
      19.   The Moral Difference 02:27  |  Steve of Mevaserret 02/11/09
      20.   to Apa #5 02:44  |  Snipes 02/11/09
      21.   # 5 i think we`re ALL waiting for THAT, apa 07:40  |  eric 02/11/09
      22.   despite their denials; ALL settlers are complicit in his crimes 07:41  |  eric 02/11/09
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