'Jewish terrorist' to be indicted for murder, bombings

Yaakov (Jack) Teitel will be indicted tomorrow for the murder of two Palestinians, several bombings that caused injury but not death, and incitement to racism.

At this stage, however, he will not be charged with the murder of two policemen in the Jordan Valley eight months ago. While police also suspect him of this crime, they do not yet have enough evidence to charge him with it.

Yesterday, the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended his remand for another three days - and, for the first time since his arrest on October 7, Teitel himself appeared in court for the hearing. The Shin Bet security service had barred him from attending previous remand hearings.

At the entrance to the courtroom, Teitel waved to the waiting photographers and flashed the "V" sign. On his lawyer's advice, however, he refused to answer reporters' questions.

During the hearing, Teitel's lawyer protested the difficult conditions of his imprisonment, saying he was chained to his bed 24 hours a day. The court ordered the Shin Bet to look into this complaint.

The indictment will be filed in the Jerusalem District Court, along with a request that Teitel be remanded until the end of proceedings.

The crimes with which he will be charged include sending a booby-trapped Purim gift basket to a family of messianic Jews in Ariel, which seriously wounded their teenage son, Ami Ortiz, and planting a pipe bomb at the Jerusalem residence of Prof. Zeev Sternhell, who was lightly wounded.