The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an appeal filed by Yaakov (Jack) Teitel, dubbed by the media "the Jewish terrorist," who in 2013 was convicted of two murders and a series of attempted murders and aggravated assaults against Palestinians, Messianic Jews, gays and leftists. Teitel appealed both his conviction and his sentence of two consecutive life terms and an additional 30 years in prison. The court denied both, ruling the conviction and the 90-year sentence stand. At the time, Teitel was convicted after he had confessed. During the appeal proceedings, his attorneys argued temporary insanity, saying Teitel told them he was on a "mission from God," revealed to him by an angel in a vision he had. The court questioned the "vision" theory, and ruled Teitel, which throughout the legal proceedings demonstrated full grasp of the gravity of his actions, could not invoke an insanity defense. The Florida-born Teitel, who became an Israeli citizen in 2000, was arrested in October 2009 and later indicted for two counts of murder; two counts of attempted murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault; incitement to violence; illegal possession of firearms and explosives; and sabotage, in cases the prosecution said transpired between 1997 and 2008. In January 2013 he was convicted on all counts.
He was also ordered to pay nearly $100,000 in restitution to the families of his murder victims and $88,000 to each of his other victims.
