Free Republic

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has signed a deal to give an Israeli government post to an openly homophobic ultra-nationalist party leader. It is the latest development set to give far-right parties unprecedented power within Israel's ruling coalition. Avi Maoz will be a deputy minister and run a "Jewish identity" authority. He heads Noam, a religious-nationalist, anti-Arab and anti-LGBTQ party that argues for a strict interpretation of Jewish religious laws in Israel. The agreement has added to a growing sense of alarm over the composition of Mr Netanyahu's likely government. Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid has described it as "full-on crazy",...

Progressive reforms have devastated mutual trust in black communities.As the November midterms approach, left-leaning candidates from Pennsylvania to Oregon to Wisconsin have come under intense pressure over growing violence and disorder in American communities—particularly in majority-black neighborhoods, where even everyday actions like sending kids to school, attending a baseball game, or going to the lobby of one’s building to get mail are increasingly fraught with danger. These neighborhoods are experiencing what criminologists call a breakdown in “collective efficacy.” Coined by Harvard’s Robert Sampson, the term refers to the degree of trust among community members and their willingness to intervene to...

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the alleged beating of a 22-year-old fashion student at the hands of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish mob. Taj Patterson, 22, was walking home from a party through the predominantly ultra-Orthodox section of South Williamsburg when he says a group of at least twenty Jewish men attacked him. Patterson says that during the beating, the men yelled anti-gay slurs, including, "Stay down, f----t!” "I’m walking down some block by myself and then the next thing I know, I’m surrounded by a group of Hasidic Jewish men and they’re attacking me,” Patterson tells the Daily...