Yaakov Teitel (Hebrew: יעקב טייטל, born November 1972) is an American-born Israeli religious nationalist, convicted for killing two people in 2009.
His father, Mark, was a retired dentist who had served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, and his mother, Dianne, was a medical secretary – both of whom became Haredi Jews later in life.
Commonly known as Jack, Teitel attended university and received a bachelor's degree in psychology, and in the mid-1990s, he began making regular visits to Israel.
The following year, his parents and sister also emigrated to Israel, and settled in Beitar Illit, an Ultra-Orthodox city in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
In 2002, Teitel met Rivka Pepperman, a British-born dance teacher originally from Broughton Park, Manchester, whose family had moved to Israel in 1981.
Teitel was summoned by Israel Defense Forces for preliminary checks, but was exempted from conscription due to his advanced age, medical history, and familial state.
[6][7] Teitel was arrested in Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood on October 7, 2009, while posting flyers praising the 2009 Tel Aviv gay centre shooting.
[1] On 10 November 2009, the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office declared that Teitel would be charged for the murder of the two Palestinians, incitement to racism, deploying explosive devices, and sabotage.