Police in Newton, Massachusetts, investigating string of vandalism targeting pro-Israel homes as hate crimes

(JTA) – Authorities in Newton, Massachusetts, said they are investigating a string of seven recent instances of vandalism targeting homes with pro-Israel signs as individual hate crimes.

In one incident this week, more than 100 posters displaying Israeli hostages who are being held in Gaza were destroyed, in what the Jewish homeowners said had been a site of communal memory since shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Most of the reported incidents in the heavily Jewish Boston suburb over the past month involve the defacement or removal of pro-Israel signs from lawns or fences. Police a...