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Israeli terror suspect on murder charges

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'Jewish terrorist' charged
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Yaakov "Jack" Teitel faces 2 murder charges, 4 attempted murder charges
  • 37-year-old arrested in connection with attacks over 12 years, police say
  • Teitel's attorney says he needs immediate psychiatric evalutation
  • Attorney says Teitel has admitted crimes he was not involved in

Jerusalem (CNN) -- An American-born Israeli man, called a terrorist by Israeli police, was indicted Thursday on murder charges despite his attorney's concerns about his mental stability.

Yaakov "Jack" Teitel, a West Bank settler, was indicted on two murder charges, four attempted murder charges and several lesser charges, including carrying and manufacturing weapons, Israeli court authorities said.

Teitel, 37, was arrested last month in connection with a string of attacks and murder plots over the past 12 years against Arabs, homosexuals, leftists, messianic Jews and police, according to Israeli police and security forces.

Attorney Adi Keidar has said that his client is mentally unstable and needs psychiatric help.

Teitel sees himself as an emissary of God, who has come to eradicate all the profanities against God, according to Keidar. He said he thinks Teitel needs immediate psychiatric evaluation.

Teitel has admitted to the 1997 shooting of a Palestinian man and the laying of explosive devices -- in addition to other crimes that he was not involved in, including the August shooting attack on a Tel Aviv gay youth club that killed two people, Keidar said.

Israeli police consider Teitel a terrorist.

"He was like a serial killer," said Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld "He was deeply involved in terrorism on all different levels."

CNN's Kevin Flower contributed to this report.