JERUSALEM - A pivotal court case takes place this week in a trial involving the rights of Messianic Jews in Israel.

In December 2005, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Beersheva stormed a congregation of Messianic Jews - Jews who believe Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

The attackers violently disrupted a baptismal service and police found it difficult to restore order.

It wasn't the first time the congregation had been harassed. The attack eventually led the Messianic Jews to bring Beersheva's chief rabbi and the regional head of a group called Yad L'achim to court.

"We just knew something this time needed to be done to protect the flock and also to honor the name of Yeshua here, of Jesus here, because they were totally making light of it all," Pastor Howard Bass said.

Yad L'achim has attracted international attention for trying to prevent the preaching of the gospel during demonstrations like one in the Israeli town of Arad. Their efforts have also attracted the attention of the U.S. government.

A 2009 U.S. State Department report on religious rights in Israel found "increased press reporting and complaints from religious freedom activists indicated a corresponding increase in Yad L'achim and associated activism and a growing wider backlash against the presence of evangelical or Messianic Jewish congregations."

Ami Ortiz Attacker

CBN News has also reported on Jack Teitel, the confessed bomber in the attempted murder of Ami Ortiz, the son of a Messianic pastor in Israel. Teitel admitted to police he was an active member of Yad L'achim for five years. The group denies his claim.

Based on Teitel's confession and other suspicious activities, Israel's attorney general received an appeal by one human rights group to dismantle Yad L'achim and label it a "terrorist organization" since it acted "contrary to the law and the democratic nature of the state of Israel."

The group concluded that Yad L'achim's actions severely damaged Israel's international reputation.

The attorney general has yet to make a decision on the appeal while Yad L'achim says it will sue the group filing the appeal for slander.

In the meantime, the two sides in the case will meet on April 15. The judge wants them to reach a settlement on their own. If not, he will render his verdict. The judge's ruling could have a major impact on freedom of religion in Israel.

Not Against Israel

Regardless of the outcome, Bass emphasizes this is not an anti-Israel case.

"We're not against Israel. We're not against the Jewish people," he said.

"We're simply trying to uphold the truth of the Gospel on the one hand. But also to uphold the legitimate rights we have under the existing laws of the State that we can worship as believers in Beersheva and Israel without fearing that they're going to come in and attack us."

Publication: YNet News
Type: Online
Date: February 23, 2010
Country: Israel
Title: Civil rights group wants AG to disband Yad L'achim organization
Reporter: Aviad Glickman
Article: link

ARTICLE

The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has turned to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in a request to disband the Yad L'achim organization and declare it a terrorist organization. According to the institute, Jewish terrorist Jack Teitel was a member of Yad L'achim for five years. The institute's request lists a long line of allegedly illegal acts committed by the organization in recent years against ethnic and religious minority groups. (Aviad Glickman)

ARTICLE

Suspected Jewish terrorist Yaakov (Jack) Teitel told his interrogators he was an active member of anti-missionary group Yad L'achim for five years, Haaretz has learned.

The Bnei Brak-based ultra-Orthodox group has gained notoriety in recent years for its actions against Messianic Jews, whom it perceives as a "sect" seeking to convert Jews to Christianity. The organization also prides itself on "rescuing" Jewish women from relationships with Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.

Teitel, a resident of the settlement Shvut Rachel, was charged last November with murdering two Palestinians and attempting to murder three people, including Hebrew University Professor Zeev Sternhell and Ariel teenager Ami Ortiz. Ortiz, from a family of Messianic Jews, was gravely wounded by a bomb packaged inside a Purim gift in March 2008.
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Teitel admitted to placing the bomb, and called the Ortiz family "missionaries trying to capture weak Jews."

Teitel admitted he was connected to the organization during an interrogation several weeks after his arrest. The interrogator, a Shin Bet officer with the Petah Tikva police, asked Teitel what he had been doing the night a bomb was placed outside Sternhell's home. Teitel said he had been pacing at home, unable to sleep, because of the cold weather.

When the interrogator asked Teitel how his wife would react when he would come home after spending the night out, Teitel said she didn't mind because she knew he was working with Yad L'achim, "rescuing" Jewish women from their Arab partners.

Teitel said he had worked with the organization for five years, and took part in five "rescue operations" a year. He said the operations were fast and effective, and always took place when the couples were not home. He refused to say who organized the operations.

A month and a half before Teitel's arrest, Haaretz spoke to Yad L'achim chairman Rabbi Shalom Dov Lifshitz, as part of a comprehensive feature on his group in the weekend supplement last October. In the interview, Lifshitz denied his organization was connected to the harassment of the Ortiz family, and when presented with a poster showing the family with other Messianic activists, the rabbi denied his activists were distributing it.

Two months after the explosion in Ariel, the injured teenager's father, David, approached several authorities in Israel and abroad. He said he felt the investigation had reached a stalemate, even though he had given police CCTV footage showing Teitel placing the bomb near his door.

Among others, he approached the Irish Christian Friends of Israel. The mission's staff then sought explanations from Israel's ambassador to Dublin, Nadav Cohen.

In response, the ambassador stated that the investigation was classified and that the officer in charge would tell him only that "Ariel has a community of about 20 Messianic Jews, and their leader [Ortiz] has been provoking Jews and Muslims, convincing them to convert ... the police is working to prevent this incident from recurring, but also told me that the Messianic Jews must alter their behavior to prevent extreme incidents in the future."

Caleb Meyers, legal adviser for the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, who represents several Messianic Jewish activists, said, "If Teitel's confession is correct, it's not particularly surprising. We have been warning about the daily incitement and violence by ultra-Orthodox organizations like Yad L'achim for years. They incite against minorities for no reason other than their religion."

"Yad L'achim is an entire barrel of bad apples," the lawyer said. "The authorities must treat them uncompromisingly, because it's just a matter of time before they grow more Teitel terrorists."

Yesterday, Lifshitz denied Teitel was connected to his organization.

"I have no idea who this is and we have nothing to do with him. I've read about him in the papers, and it sounds like he's making it all up with his feverish imagination. Maybe his claim about working with us was just an excuse to his wife for his absence at night."

Lifshitz also denied Teitel took part in five "rescue" operations a year.

"So he says, so what. I wish we had someone who could take part in five operations a year. Look, we have a lot of volunteers, hundreds of them, maybe he joined us under a false name," he said. "You can't know anything for sure these days. I guess I'll have to check the passports of every one of my men from now on."

The Yad L'achim chairman said he had not been approached by the police or the Shin Bet since Teitel's arrest.

"He's a wacko, he's nuts. I don't know the guy," he said.

Publication: YNet News
Type: Online
Date: January 1, 2010
Country: Israel
Title: Teitel's profile: Settler, charismatic, ideologist
Reporter: YNet Reporters
Article: link

ARTICLE

Teitel's profile: Settler, charismatic, ideologist

Review of thousands of revealed documents shows police formed fairly accurate description of Jewish terrorist almost a year before knowing who he was. Other documents reveal additional suspicions raised during investigation which were not verified, including links to Satmar Hasidim in US

Ynet reporters

Published: 01.01.10, 10:02 / Israel News

An adult man, a settler, a religious man, a charismatic man, an ideologist, who has a weapons storeroom in his home – this is how the police described Yaakov (Jack) Teitel, months before they knew who he was. But even then, the police already had an established estimation that only one person was behind the acts he had committed – an estimation which later proved to be true.

A further review of the thousands of documents from the investigation file in the Jewish terrorist affair, some of which were revealed Thursday, only strengthens the feeling that the law enforcement authorities had an endless number of clues and details which could have helped assemble the full picture and arrest Teitel at an earlier stage.

In Court

Lawyer: Teitel was unaware police minutes published / Aviad Glickman

Because Jewish terrorist swaps legal counsel, Jerusalem District Court decides not to extend his remand until end of legal proceedings, but only for 19 days. Teitel, upon hearing this, smiles, nods in agreement that he misses his wife

One of the interesting records is a document written in December 2008, 10 months before Teitel's arrest, in which a police investigator reached the conclusion that one element was behind a series of incidents which took place between 2006 and 2008.

These 10 incidents were eventually included in the indictment filed against Teitel: A pipe bomb detonated outside Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell's home in September 2008; an explosive charge planted at a police station in the West Bank settlement of Eli in April 2006; an explosive device detonated in a monastery in the village of Beit Jamal near Beit Shemesh in April 2007; An explosive charge detonated in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood in May 2007; a explosive Purim gift sent to the Ortiz family home in Ariel in March 2008; and five additional cases in which pamphlets against the gay pride parade, hatred letters and "manuals" were distributed in Jerusalem and in the settlements of Eli and Adei Ad.

The document's author, Chief Inspector Maya Engelhard, a research and profile officer at the Investigative Psychology Department of the police's national headquarters, based her conclusion on the common characteristics of texts distributed on pamphlets and booklets and attached to explosive devices, and especially in "the manual for activists of the Judea Kingdom", which included a manifesto of hatred against the State of Israel, calling for the establishment of a "Judea state" and including a series of instructions for dealing with arrests and interrogations and for the preparation of a variety of Molotov cocktails and explosive devices.


'Burning hatred.' Yaakov Teitel in court (Photo: Guy Turgeman)

'Sodomites' not only gays

Engelhard concluded, and her conclusion later proved to be completely right, that there was "one main doctrine" behind all the incidents, which focuses on hatred of "sodomites". She explained that the word "sodomite" did not refer to homosexuals only, but to "anyone who does not share an ideology which is similar to that of the writers. In other words, a group comprised of "all the haters of the Torah," including the State of Israel, its leaders and the government institutions. He feels a "burning hatred" to all these elements, she ruled.

In one point, however, Chief Inspector Engelhard makes a fundamental mistake: She estimates that the actions were not committed by one person but by a group of people, comprised of "a leading hand" which constitutes a "key authority" under which a number of small cells which carried out the attacks operate, and which "are not necessarily aware of each other's existence."

No foundation for this assertion has been found so far, and the established estimate is that Teitel acted all alone.

She then paints a profile of the head of the organization and of the "young people" who executed his orders by planting the explosives. In her characterization of the "key authority", she managed to create a profile which fairly suits Jack Teitel: A person over the age of 35 (Teitel was 36 at the time); a resident of the territories; strongly religious; charismatic and very articulate; a person who blindly believes in his way; ideologically detached from the State of Israel, and therefore is likely not to pay taxes, to live in an isolated place and ignore the existence of the security forces; he is expected to carry a weapon and may have "a hiding place or storeroom for weapons."

Engelhard also estimated that in the case of an arrest and interrogation, this man "will refuse to cooperate, but there is a chance that in a certain situation he will be able to 'restrain himself' and will provide the investigators with his doctrine" – which is exactly what happened.

Nonetheless, she also "misses" some points. For example, she claims that "we cannot rule out the possibility that he served in the IDF in the past and may have even been a career officer." She estimates that "he may have a relatively neat look, essentially military, and there is a possibility that he may wear a sign which will identify him and those accompanying him. She also estimates that "he is expected to draw young people (mainly bachelors) who share his outlook."

'Sternheil' in threat letter to Beilin

The documents also reveal that during the investigation, even before Teitel was caught, the police looked into a variety of suspicions which were eventually not included in the indictment.

For example, one of the documents revealed that the police had examined a threat letter sent by email to Former Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin. The letter, which was sent on October 2008, read, "I regret to inform you of the death of Uri Avnery and Yariv Oppenheimer… who were two of several enemies of Israeli living among us, and that they will be joined in the future by Sternheil (apparently referring to Prof. Sternhell), Beilin and others."

The letter's writer also praised the actions of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's murderer, Yigal Amir.

The police apparently linked the threat letter to Teitel because Prof. Sternhell, one of his victims, was mentioned in it. Oppenheimer, the Peace Now secretary-general, was also mentioned in Teitel's interrogations as one of the people he considered targeting. However the names of Beilin, Oppenheimer and Avnery where eventually not included in the indictment, which did not mention any threats.

Another complaint looked into as part of the "Teitel case" relates to an incident from February 2009, in which an article about the attack on Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell (which took place five months earlier) was pasted near the home of a Women in Black activist in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem neighborhood. On the article someone had written that anyone who hurts the activist will receive NIS 1 million (about $260,000).

It should be noted that the same activist had complained in the past about being harassed by "a guy of American descent", and the court had even issued a restraining order against him.


Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell (Photo: Dudi Vaaknin)

Another lead looked into in the investigation, which was apparently not verified, is a link between the affair and members of the Satmar Hasidism in the United States. In a letter from January 2009, one of the investigators asked for a meeting with the representative of the New York Police Department in Israel, in order to receive information on intelligence in some of the Hasidism's yeshivot in the East Coast.

The request for a meeting was made due to suspicions that there was a link between five pipe bomb attacks (against Prof. Sternhell and in relation to the gay pride parade) and "an unknown Jewish underground." All of these attacks are now attributed to Teitel.

Another document points to additional clues the police had, which could have helped locate Teitel: A summary of the questioning of Prof. Sternhell's wife, Ziva, who said that several hours before the pipe bomb exploded outside their home, she had spotted a man standing next a nearby bottle recycling device, holding a note and apparently searching for an address.

She described him as a 35-year-old man, tall, with a medium-sized body and short dark hair, and added that he may have been wearing a skullcap and had a beard. However, she said she could not tell if he was secular or religious.

Teitel the drawer

The documents in the file include detailed accounts of Teitel's reenactments of the incidents in which explosive devices were planted in the different attacks, which accompany a video documentation.

The file also includes a variety of drawings which were apparently illustrated by Teitel himself and seized by the police. They describe the different charges he built, alongside comments and explanations about their structure and operating systems and the places they were planted in. The writing is a mixture of English and Hebrew filled with spelling mistakes. Here are just a few of the drawings:



Explosive charge with 'gunpowder' (spelled incorrectly in Hebrew)



Booby-trapped Purim gift sent to Ortiz family, as drawn by Teitel



Charge activated using 200-meter fishing string after being planted under jeep Teitel thought was a police car in Ramot neighborhood. There were no injuries



Explosives planted by Teitel in Eli, Beit Jamal

Another document includes a psychiatric evaluation of Teitel from November 2, about a month after his arrest. The psychiatrist, Dr. Leon Karp, concluded that Teitel was "aware and sober" and that his concentration and public judgment abilities were intact. He also ruled out any comprehension and intelligence disorders.

According to Dr. Karp, "Apart from phenomena of schizoid behavior (seclusion and sinking into an internal world), I did not find any psychiatric problems… I believe there is no need for hospitalization."

'Each person pays for his actions'

The documents exposed include a documentation of all of Teitel's interrogations since he was arrested on October 7. A pattern repeats itself in regards to each of the suspicions the investigators attribute to him: At first he keeps quiet, then he denies, and then he talks.

Another stage was added when he was questioned about the massacre at the Tel Aviv gay youth club – after claiming responsibility, he goes back on his statement and denies again.

In his first interrogation, Teitel said that "each person pays for his actions." He even responded positively when asked if he was aware of the fact that he was "going to sit in jail for many years."

At this stage of the investigation, however, he was only questioned about the pamphlets seized while being distributed in the Har Nof neighborhood. He did not know that at this stage the investigators had already suspected that he was involved in the murder cases and attempts to hurt Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell and the Ortiz family members.

In the second interrogation he was asked for the first time about the pipe bomb planted at the Sternhell home and replied that he had heard about the attacks against "the leftists from the university" in Jerusalem but denied any connection to it. He also denied having anything to do with the explosive Purim basket in Ariel. He only admitted that he had distributed leaflets against homosexual, "because they engage in acts which contradict the Torah." He explained that he had wanted to evoke the ultra-Orthodox public opinion and cause haredim to go out and protest.

The third interrogation was held the same day, and he was presented with photos showing him placing the explosive charge in Ariel. He claimed in response that the pictures were blurred. In the next interrogations he was asked about the weapons in his possession and, for the first time, about his involvement in the gay club shooting attack in Tel Aviv. His response was negative.


Murder in Tel Aviv gay youth club, August 2009 (Photo: Yaron Brener)

After resting on Shabbat, he was questioned again, and told the investigators where he had hid a weapon – after being told that if he revealed the weapon's location he would be able to meet his wife. In her meeting with her, he said he was sorry for causing her misery.

In the same interrogation, he said he would refuse to be questioned about the 1997 murder, on which he had been questioned in the past. He claimed that the attack took place a long time ago, and therefore "it’s not important."

Only four days after being arrested, Teitel began speaking. He said he had planned to target the homosexual and lesbian center in Jerusalem (Open House). According to Teitel, he had planned to send an explosive flowerpot to the offices, but reconsidered for fear that the messenger would be hurt or that the investigation would lead to him.

He also said that he had planned to target the manager of a club used by members of Jerusalem's gay community. He was asked again about the murder cases from 12 years ago and again replied, "What could I gain from it?"

Poisoning inspired by James Bond

After undergoing a polygraph test, which revealed that he was not speaking the truth about the gay youth club massacre, Teitel confessed to the two murder cases from the previous decade, to an attempt to poison residents of a Palestinian village and to setting three fires near the village of Beit Jamal.

He later admitted that he had been involved in planting explosive charges and even said he had shot a sick dog in the head. Regarding the poisoning attack, he said he had read in a book from the James Bond series that a substance called "antifreeze" was toxic and decided to carry out a poisoning attack.

Many of the interrogations engaged in Teitel's alleged involvement in the gay club shooting. Following repeated denials, things took a turn when he agreed to say what he would have done if he was the person behind the attack: He would take a grenade and a gun and hide an explosive device on a tree.

In another interrogation, he said he would have arrived at the place on a motorcycle and explained what clothes he would have worn. A week after his arrest, he told his investigators that an attack "in a gay bar" in Tel Aviv would not suit him as much because it was carried out against children.

On October 16 there was another change: Teitel said he was willing to take responsibility for the incident, but added that he did not commit it. He suggested that the police record his voice and let the attack's survivors listen to it, because he had heard that the murderer had shouted something.

On October 19 he confessed to the murder, saying that he had fired many shots and that he remembers seeing teenagers "running, shouting, dropping chairs and escaping" as he fired in all directions, some hiding under a light brown-colored table and begging him to stop. He also said he remembered the terrified teens' eyes as he shot at them. He failed, however, to provide technical details. He only said that he had been wearing black clothes and a black mask and that he had used a 9-millimeter gun.

He also added that he deserved to die for this act, that he did deserve to wear a skullcap, that he did not deserve to drink the coke he was given and that he was "a monster rather than a human being."

But in the next interrogation he went back on his words, saying that he had lied and did not carry out the attack. He apologized for the lie and explained that he had given the false version because he thought that would bring the affair to an end.

And indeed, apart from the gay club incident, Teitel expressed his complete confidence in the rightness of his actions. In one of his interrogations he said he was in peace with his deeds and that any self-examination would eventually take place between him and God, who will judge him one day.

Teitel estimated that he would be rewarded for his actions rather than punished, although he understood that he may spend many years in prison. He also said that had he not been arrested, he would have continued his activity.

Another attack Teitel confessed to and then went back on was the plating of three mines in the village of Abu Gosh. At first he confessed to the attack, which the investigators were not even aware of. Police officers were dispatched to the area to search for the explosives, which were not detonated, but could not find them.

Teitel went back on his confession, but then claimed responsibility for the missing charges once again. "You have nothing to worry about," he said, adding that the explosives were planted when he had just begun his activity and were not of high quality. The charges were never found, but the offense of planting them was included in the indictment.

In some of the interrogations, his behavior as a family man was discussed, and Teitel claimed that he was a good husband and a reasonable father. He estimated, however, that his wife would be angry at his actions and decide to divorce him.

A comical moment was recorded in one of the questioning sessions, when Teitel turned to his investigators and suggested that if the police would drop all charges against him, he would be willing to study Arabic or Persian and serve as an Israeli agent in Iran.

Amir Shilo, Yaron Druckman, Ahiya Raved, Aviad Glickman, Vered Luvitch and Ronen Medzini contributed to this report

Publication: Religion News
Type: Online
Date: December 22, 2009
Country: USA
Title: Israel's Messianic Jews wary of stepped-up persecution
Reporter: Michael Chabin
Article: link

ARTICLE

Israel's Messianic Jews wary of stepped-up persecution

by Michele Chabin

Religion News Service

ARIEL, West Bank (RNS) After their teenage son was nearly killed last year by a bomb disguised as a holiday gift basket, few people were as eager for Ya'acov Teitel to see justice as Leah and David Ortiz.

Teitel, an Orthodox Jewish loner who confessed to placing the package in the family's stairwell said he targeted the Ortiz family because they are Messianic Jews -- Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

"We want justice, not revenge," said Leah Ortiz, who has lived in this religiously mixed city of 30,000 since the late 1980s. "This happened because Teitel had hate in his heart. He needs to be in prison."

The attack, which left 15-year-old Ami with shrapnel wounds and burns over much of his body, has highlighted the vulnerability facing Israel's small and increasingly beleaguered Messianic Jewish community.

Community members say the decades-old harassment has intensified in recent years, as ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups dedicated to stopping missionary activity have grown stronger and more confident.

Anti-missionary activists hold protests outside Messianic places of worship and post photos and the addresses of believers on lampposts.
They tell the Ministry of the Interior that Messianic Jews are converts to Christianity, something that would make them ineligible to immigrate to Israel.

Although Israeli law permits missionary activity -- provided the evangelizer does not offer any material incentive to a potential convert -- the persecution and forced conversion of countless Jews for generations has made Jews extremely wary of proselytizing.

Messianic Jews, who publish and distribute the New Testament in Hebrew, say they are eager to share the "good news" with anyone willing to listen, but insist that they do so within the parameters of the law.

Aaron Rubin, who heads the anti-missionary department at Yad L'Achim, Israel's leading anti-Messianic organization, insists that Messianic Jews lure unsuspecting Jews by speaking Hebrew and quoting Jewish texts.

"They lie. They try to convert people but say they're not Christians. They're fundamentalist Christians who call themselves Jews,"
Rubin asserts.

Barry Segal, a Messianic leader who co-founded the Joseph's Storehouse Humanitarian Aid Center with his wife outside Jerusalem, attributes the recent rash of high-profile incidents to his movement's growing popularity.

"The number of believers in Israel was roughly 300 in 1981, and today it's over 12,000," he said. "I'm talking about those of us who are Jewish born, who were married in Jewish weddings."

Thousands more Israelis, primarily Russian and Ethiopian immigrants whose Jewish status is questionable, combine Jewish and Christian ritual in their daily lives.

"In times past, the harassment mostly consisted of mail tampering and phone calls with vicious intent," Segal said. But in recent years, "there has been a rising tide from harassment into violent acts."

Segal is quick to point out that Sudanese and Pakistani Christians face more deadly threats than Messianic believers in Israel. Still, "any violence, actual or threatened, is unacceptable."

Pnina Comforti, the bakery owner, says anyone who wants to understand the fear she faces should watch a YouTube video that re-enacts a phone call in which a man tells her, "I am coming to take your soul. How do you feel knowing you are about to die?"

The man in the video proceeds to recite her address. "You will know my name when I write it on the wall with your blood."

Comforti said business has been down 50 percent since her bakery's kosher certification was torn off the wall. "People come and say, `We heard you do something to the cakes"' that renders them unkosher. "What the rabbis say, people do."

Still, she is undaunted. "What those who threaten us don't understand is that they strengthen our determination and our faith."

Leah and David Ortiz say much the same thing.

Seated in the apartment that was badly damaged by the blast that nearly killed the youngest of their six children, Leah said half the town came to visit their son in the hospital. "They said prayers, they cooked us meals. We've lived here so long, people know us to be good people."

David, who serves as the spiritual leader of this town's 50-family Messianic Jewish congregation, produces grim photos of Ami taken about a month after he opened the package at the kitchen table.

"It blew off three of his toes, the muscle from his thighs, and caused second- and third-degree burns on his chest and thighs," he said. "Bolts and screws tore through his eye and it's a true miracle he wasn't blinded."

Ami, now 16, has undergone 12 operations and has at least four more to go. After spending five months in the hospital, he returned to school and now plays on two basketball teams.

As grateful as they for Ami's recovery and community support, the Ortiz family is still upset by how Israeli authorities handled their case.

"There was a condescending attitude, almost like they were saying, `What did you think would happen if you live as Messianic Jews?"' Leah said. "Government officials told us privately, `You don't have many fans."'

A police spokesman said the Ortiz attack "was investigated thoroughly for months and Teitel was ultimately apprehended. We act on every complaint that is filed."

Mostly, though, the family is looking forward, not back.

"I'm doing great, but I have to see what my physical abilities will be," said Ami, who at 6 feet 6 inches tall, would normally be drafted into the military at age 18. "I hope to play basketball professionally."

Ami says the bombing strengthened his spirituality.

"I've seen a lot. I've been through a lot. I've seen what God can do and it makes me feel safe."

His parents say they have forgiven the bomber, who was recently indicted in the March 2008 attack.

"Otherwise he would have control over us, and we would be victims twice," Leah said, stroking the family's 15-year-old dog, who became deaf due to the bombing. "Forgiveness frees you and frees God to work his miracles."

The Israeli Messianic Jewish family whose son was nearly killed by a bomb have come face to face with their alleged attacker.

Teenager Ami Ortiz was wounded by a bomb that Yaakov "Jack" Teitel allegedly planted at the family's home in 2008. Severely wounded in the explosion, Ortiz has made a miraculous recovery since then.

David and Leah Ortiz, the teen's parents, were there in the courtroom when the criminal trial of Teitel opened in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

"I made eye contact with him," the elder Ortiz said. "I wanted to let him know that I'm here and we're alive and he did not succeed and that God had mercy on us. I thought that was important. If he doesn't call upon the name of the Lord and tell the Lord to have mercy on him there's no hope. But we pray that he will seek repentance and that this Saul may become a Paul."

"It was important for me to see him, and show him he has failed and we exist," Mrs. Ortiz said. "Today we are going home, and he will stay in jail. He caused us terrible and horrific damage, but did not succeed in blotting us out."

Teitel has been charged with two murders, five attempted murders, incitement, weapons violations and one count of arson.

'Jewish terrorist' trial to begin Wednesday

Yaakov (Jack) Teitel, accused of murdering two Palestinians and committing series of criminal offenses, to stand before three-judge panel at Jerusalem District Court. Families of two of his victims plan to attend ever hearing, 'see him right before out eyes'

Aviad Glickman
Published: 12.09.09, 07:34 / Israel News

Yaakov (Jack) Teitel, who has been dubbed "the Jewish terrorist," will stand before the Jerusalem District Court at 11:30 am Wednesday. The family members of some of his victims plan to face him and personally hand him a civil statement of claim for NIS 4 million (about $ 1 million).

"My brother is gone, but Teitel must receive the punishment he deserves. Such a person should remain in prison all his life," says Hani Balbisi, whose brother Samir – a Palestinian taxi driver – was allegedly murdered by Teitel in 1997.

No Connection
Teitel's relative: He is a disturbed fool / Roi Mandel

Brother-in-law of 'Jewish terrorist' indicted of murder, attempted murder and incitement tells Ynet his family 'completely cutting itself off from this man.' A person who does such terrible things should deal with them on his own, he adds (Full story).

The trial will be open to the public and will be held in front of Judges Zvi Segal, Moshe Drori and Moshe Hacohen. Justice Segal will read the indictment to Teitel and ask the defendant to confirm that he understands it.

The defendant's representation has yet to be finalized, and it is unclear who will be representing him in the court. Therefore, there is a good chance he will ask the court to delay the rest of the hearings.

Teitel was charged about a month ago with two cases of pre-meditated murder, three cases of attempted murder, carrying a weapon, manufacturing a weapon, and incitement to violence. Overall, the indictment included 14 charges against Teitel.

Teitel, 37, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel, was indicted for the murder of Palestinian taxi driver, Samir Balbisi, in June 1997, and the murder of a Palestinian shepherd just a few months later. He was also charged with laying an explosive device next to a Palestinian home near the West Bank settlement of Eli.

The indictment also claimed that he attempted to poison Palestinian residents of an isolated village near Eli. He was also indicted for attempting to murder Ami Ortiz, the son of a Messianic family living in Ariel, when he sent an explosive device disguised as a Purim gift to their home. In addition, he is charged with rigging a bomb next to Prof. Zeev Sternhell's home.

After the indictment was filed, Teitel told reporters in court, "It was a pleasure and honor to serve my God. God is proud of what I have done. I have no regrets."

'We have to be there'

Relatives of two of Teitel's victims – the Balbisi and Ortiz families – are expected to attend Wednesday's hearing. "I will come there and ask him, 'Why did you do it? What did my brother do to you?'" Hani Balbisi told Ynet. "Such a person is a criminal, and God will pay him for what he's done."

In the Ortiz family as well, emotions are high ahead of the trial. "It's not easy," says Ami's mother, Leah. "We are trying to prepare ourselves to see him right before our eyes. It will be the first time."

Leah Ortiz believes attending the trial is a moral obligation. "We have to be there," she says, "to defend the victims' rights. We want to be there."

Leah's husband David will also attend the hearing, but their son Ami, who was injured by an explosive device allegedly planted by Teitel, will not be joining them. "I'm giving him the option to make his own decision, and he's not ready," the mother says. "It still pains him mentally, and he still has physical problems as well."


The Ortiz family members – Ami, Leah and David
(Archive photo: Gil Yohanan)

She has yet to devote any thought to the meeting with Teitel's family members, and especially his wife Rivka. "We want a connection, but I don’t know, it'll be kind of weird talking to her."

Ortiz doesn’t accept the claims made by Teitel's relatives, that they were surprised by the revelation of his actions. "How can someone's wife not know what is happening with her husband, after living with him for seven years? I don’t believe it."

The Ortiz and Balbisi families' lawyer, Attorney Yossi Graiver, told Ynet that his clients plan to take advantage of the emotionally charged meeting with Teitel in order to ask him why he decided to ruin their lives with his actions.

According to Graiver, the families plan to "make an appearance" at every hearing, to exhaust their legal rights as victims of an offense in the criminal procedure, and to ensure that Teitel received the maximum penalty for the acts attributed to him.

Tal Rabinovsky contributed to this report

ARTICLE

The criminal trial of alleged Jewish terrorist Ya'acov Tytell began Wednesday in Jerusalem District Court, where the families of Tytell's alleged victims came to face their loved ones' suspected attacker for the first time.


Ya'acov Teitel in court on Wednesday.
Photo: Ben Hartman

Presiding judges decided to delay the reading of the indictment against Tytell until January 10, partly because his lawyer, Adi Keitar, was doing reserve duty and couldn't attend the hearing.

The state's indictment against Tytell spans 25 pages and includes two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted murder involving 14 separate incidents between 1997 and 2008.

There was a bit of drama at one point during the hearing, when Tytell refused Judge Tzvi Segel's demand that he stand to hear the charges against him.

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As the judge said "please rise," Tytell sat still and shook his head. The judge then said, "You don't want to stand? You're in a courthouse, stand up."

Tytell continued to sit in his place and answered, "I can hear you from here." The judge continued with the proceedings without charging Tytell with contempt ofcourt.

Tytell was led into court by three Prisons Service guards before a mob of reporters and cameramen. As in previous court appearances, he smiled and flashed the "V for victory" sign as he walked down the corridor.

When he entered the courtroom, relatives of Samir Balbisi, the taxi driver he is suspected of murdering in 1997 shouted "trash" at him. Tytell remained silent and grinning as reporters mobbed him in the courthouse, only speaking up to say "God is king, God is king" in Hebrew.

The back of the courtroom was packed with supporters of both sides, with relatives of Balbisi sitting on benches directly in front of and next to a bench full of members of the right-wing settler defense fund Honenu, which is backing Tytell's defense.

Tytell's wife Rivka sat in the corner alongside the Honenu contingent, with the couple's infant son wrapped in a sling across her chest.

The civil suit the victims' families plan to file seeks damages of NIS 2 million each for the family of Ami Ortiz, a 15-year-old critically wounded by a pipe bomb Tytell is suspected of leaving at his house in Ariel, and the Balbisis.

Ami's father David Ortiz, who leads a messianic Jewish congregation in Ariel, told The Jerusalem Post that he and his wife came to the hearing because "it's important for him [Tytell] to see that we are still here, we're still alive and he did not succeed in destroying us."

After the hearing adjourned, David Ortiz said he was feeling fine and that "it's not every day you see a trained assassin; it's not every day you see the man who tried to murder your family."

He added that it is very encouraging to see that justice is being carried out.

Ami's mother Leah said, "My heart has been pounding since 5:30 this morning. Being here takes me back to that morning."

She added that, like David, she wanted to come "in order to show him [Tytell] that he was not able to destroy us."

After the hearing, Balbisi's father Akram was sitting on a bench speaking with his lawyer and his murdered son's cousin Ibrahim. He told the Post of his family's struggles since his son was murdered 12 years ago, saying that he hasn't worked since his son's passing and his wife has suffered from a litany of health problems that he believes derived from his son's death.

"I wanted to come and look into his eyes," Akram Balbisi said. "This man came from America to kill Arabs, but he didn't care who he killed. I hope he gets what he deserves."

ARTICLE

Teitel refuses to rise during trial opening

Published: 12.09.09, 14:15 / Israel News

Yaacov Teitel, who is accused of murdering two Palestinians and a series of additional charges, refused the judge's request to rise during the opening of his trial in the Jerusalem District Court.

Teitel also refused to talk inside the courtroom, and only said "God is king." Teitel's temporarily-assigned attorney said he read the indictment to the defendant, and that his answer will be given at a later time. (Aviad Glickman)