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Gag order could not prevent Web sites reporting arrest
By Yuval Azoulay and Ofri Ilani

Although security forces waited until yesterday before announcing the arrest of an Israeli-American ultra-Orthodox extremist suspected of carrying out high-profile hate crimes against Arabs and peace activists, the news has been circulating around the Internet for about a month.

Yesterday afternoon, only a few hours after the gag order was lifted on last month's arrest of Yaakov (Jack) Teitel, 37, a Google search for his name in Hebrew came up with 240 results. In some cases, the Florida-born resident of the West Bank outpost Shvut Rachel was mentioned only by his initials, due to the gag order.
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Behadrei Hadarim, a Hebrew-language news site geared toward the ultra-Orthodox, wrote more than two weeks ago that a large police contingent had "reached a house in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem and discovered explosives." The site said it was relaying the information about "Y." cautiously, "out of a desire not to harm the families involved in the story, which is expected to stir up the Israeli public."

The report raised the possibility that the arrest would unleash anti-Haredi sentiments.

"Has Y.'s guilt been proven?" the article asked. "And how will this affect the attitude toward Haredim? Will we once again see unrestrained media incitement against the ultra-Orthodox public? Let's hope not."

Police and security forces said yesterday that Teitel's targets included the murder of two Arabs as well as bombing attacks against left-wing professor Zeev Sternhell, a family of messianic Jews, a monastery and the police, whom he accused of being "pro-gay."

Rotter.net, which also publishes news geared toward an ultra-Orthodox audience, asked readers to send in a photograph of Teitel. On another Web site, an anonymous reader posted a comment calling Teitel a "man's man." He didn't specify the accusations against him, but said "terrible things will soon be written about him."

Some right-wing readers appeared on the defensive yesterday. On the Web site of right-wing movement Hayamin Ha'amiti, one wrote that the right should gear up for a torrent of criticism.

"Now they'll report that they caught Yaakov Teitel who shot homos in Tel Aviv and wounded Ze'ev Sternhell, may his name and memory be blotted out, [that he] was arrested, and they'll rejoice over it for a really long time so they can slander the right and the Haredim and the settlers," wrote a user who went by the name Ran Hakehanist.
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