The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday convicted a Jewish settler of murdering two Palestinians, The Jerusalem Post reported on its website.

American-born Jack Teitel was convicted on two counts of first- degree murder, as well as hate crimes including attempted murder and incitement to violence.

Teitel, who has confessed he committed the crimes, said in his interrogation that he came to Israel to "revenge the deaths of Jews at the hands of our Arab enemies."

In his ruling, Judge Drori rejected the line of defense claiming Teitel to be delusional.

The defendant, born in Florida, killed an Arab taxi driver, Samir Akram Balbisi, in May 1997 in east Jerusalem. Three months later he killed Issa Jabarin in Susiya, near Hebron.

After he managed to escape to the United States, he returned to Israel in 1999, moved to the Shvut Rachel settlement and became an Israeli citizen in 2000.

In 2006, he distributed leaflets explaining how to create Molotov cocktails, and encouraged violent action against homosexuals at the annual pride parade in Jerusalem.

Teitel also became an expert of explosives and has laid several bombs. One of the bombs wounded a Palestinian tractor driver, and another planted outside the home of David Ortiz, a pastor in a church of Messianic Jews in Ariel, severely injured David's 15- year-old son.

Teitel also planted an explosive device outside the home of left-wing scholar Ze'ev Sternhell in 2008 in Jerusalem, leaving the scholar wounded in his legs.

After an extended undercover investigation, Teitel was arrested in 2009. In December 2011, the district psychiatrist deemed he is fit to stand trial.

In February 2012, Teitel's lawyers reached an agreement with the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office and confessed on his behalf on two counts of murder and eight other crimes. He will be sentenced in February and is likely to face life imprisonment. Endi

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