There is probably no uglier face to the Israeli Right than the extremists of the settler movement.
"For many Israelis who live inside the borders determined before 1967 - the year Israel occupied Palestinian territory - Teitel's confessions reinforce the perception that the settler movement has become a liability that threatens Israel's stability." :-
Man of hatred shocks the land he calls home
Yaakov Teitel is the new face of Israel's extreme right-wing religious movement. A fanatical Jewish settler from the tiny outpost of Shvut Rahel in the northern West Bank, Teitel flashed the peace sign as he was led from an Israeli courtroom this week.
But after confessing to a string of murders and hate crimes over the past 12 years, Teitel has emerged as anything but a peacemaker.
Branded a ''Jewish terrorist'', the 37-year-old father of four has already admitted to the murders of two Palestinians in 1997 and the pipe-bombing of the left-wing Israeli academic Zeev Sternhell this year.
Police also suspect Teitel of the shooting murder of two Israeli police officers on a West Bank highway nine months ago, a crime initially blamed on Palestinian terrorists. ''If the wheel were to turn back I would do it all again,'' Teitel told investigators after his arrest.
He told his lawyer: ''I am God's emissary in Israel.''
Gay Jews and others he perceived as betraying Jewish religious principles, such as the the group Jews for Jesus, also became the target of his hatred.
Teitel was arrested early last month after police spotted him putting up posters celebrating the murders in August of two gay teenagers at a community centre in Tel Aviv. ''Two months ago one of the holy knights of God, the black bear, killed two sodomites and saved our sacred people from the wrath of God,'' the poster read.
Since a gag on Teitel's arrest was lifted this week, his confessions have shaken the settler movement, shocked the public, and raised questions about the efficacy of Israel's internal security services.
Not only was Teitel able to roam the country over 12 years, allegedly committing acts of terrorism and terrorist training, and building bombs, he was also able to smuggle weapons into Israel through its ports and airports, police say.
Man of hatred shocks the land he calls home
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