Earlier this week, the New York Times uncovered a supposed “scandal”: The Heritage Foundation – America’s foremost conservative think tank – has a plan to combat antisemitism.
What’s the offense, according to the Times? That Heritage is actively working to expose and dismantle networks of groups supporting Hamas through a new initiative called Project Esther. That’s it. That’s the “scandal.”
The Times frames Project Esther as targeting mere “supporters of Palestinian rights” using supposedly “authoritarian” or “fascist” tactics (in the words of a far-left group they cite) to squelch their freedom of speech. In reality, the project is a network of conservative, Jewish, Christian, pro-Israel, and other civic organizations focused on combating antisemitism and the growing influence of terrorist-linked networks within the United States. We refer to this ecosystem as the “Hamas Support Network” (HSN) – a global web of groups that provide material support to Hamas and seek to destroy Israel, the Jewish people, and America.
But the Times deliberately reframes the project’s focus, portraying our target as merely “the pro-Palestinian movement.” Unless the Times is admitting that the pro-Palestinian movement is synonymous with Hamas support, their characterization is a gross misrepresentation. The HSN is not comprised of mere advocates for Palestinian rights; it is a radical network bent on destroying Israel and America by exploiting our open society, corrupting our education system, leveraging the American media, and coopting the federal government.
Project Esther’s mission is “to dismantle the infrastructure that sustains the HSN and associated movements’ antisemitic violence inside the United States of America within 12 to 24 months to restore equal protection under the law for all Americans.” To accomplish this, the project’s partners are working to expose the HSN’s funders and advocate for a wide range of executive actions and policies. These include deporting foreign supporters of terrorism, removing foreign-funded antisemitic materials from the classroom, and eroding support for Hamas-linked organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine, Samidoun, and the Orwellian-named Jewish Voice for Peace.
Let’s be clear: the real issue here isn’t what Heritage is doing. The issue is that the Times is terrified that large parts of the American Jewish community will re-assess their political loyalties. They see the shifting political winds, especially among American Jews disillusioned with the progressive movement’s pathetic response to the October 7th massacre and the surge in antisemitism that followed. They fear Jews might realize that conservatives, including President Trump, are taking this threat seriously – and doing something about it.
In other words, The Times fears that after the left abandoned the Jews, the Jews will abandon the left. So instead of engaging in honest debate or taking responsibility for their failures, they smear Heritage.
Well, I am proud to work for The Heritage Foundation.
The New York Times wants Jews to believe that organizations like Heritage are dangerous and insincere – that even when we fight antisemitism, we’re doing it the wrong way or for the wrong reasons. They imply that few Jews are involved in Project Esther, and suggest conservatives and Christians are merely using Jews to advance a broader political or theological agenda.
Here’s the truth: I’ve been in the rooms. I’ve seen and heard firsthand the deep concern and genuine solidarity of my colleagues – most of them Christians – who are appalled by the surge in antisemitism. And yes, contrary to the Times portrayal, there are many Jews involved in Project Esther. But even if there weren’t, shouldn’t we welcome non-Jewish allies willing to stand with us in the Jewish community’s hour of need, especially when so few will? Why should we have to fight this battle alone?
You don’t have to take my word for my colleague’s motives. Just look at who’s actually doing something.
After October 7th, how many progressive institutions that claim to care so deeply about “justice” and “human rights” and shouted so loudly about every single issue suddenly fell conspicuously silent?
How many offered moral equivocation, or worse, outright hostility to Israel and its supporters – even before Israel had time to bury her dead or respond to the Hamas attack? How many universities and activist groups issued cowardly, contorted statements equating antisemitism with “Islamophobia” and pretending both sides bore equal blame?
Many liberal Jews felt bewildered and betrayed by that response. They felt alone. But I and other conservative Jews did not. When Simchas Torah ended, my phone and email inbox were filled with messages from conservative and Christian friends offering their condolences and support.
The Heritage Foundation’s response to October 7th was swift, strong, and unequivocal. Before the sun set that terrible day, Heritage had already issued a clear statement condemning “the unprecedented and unprovoked terrorist attack on Israel coordinated by the Islamic Republic of Iran through its proxy Hamas,” and declaring that America’s “first priority [should be] to make sure Israel has everything it needs to neutralize the terrorists and rescue the Israeli civilians who have been taken hostage.”
Unlike Harvard, Heritage didn’t need time to think about how to phrase their support of Jews in such a way as to minimize antagonizing the Jew haters. There was no dithering, no attempt to appease antisemites. Just moral clarity.
Meanwhile, as Jewish students faced threats, vandalism, and violence on campuses nationwide, the Biden administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism were hollow and feckless. The Biden-Harris White House offered mere platitudes. Its vaunted National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism even included the notoriously antisemitic Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose director called the Oct. 7 massacre an “act of self-defense” and declared that he was “happy” to see Gazans “walk free into their own land.”
By contrast, the Trump administration has taken concrete steps to address the surge in antisemitism, such as by deporting supporters of terrorism and holding universities accountable for their failure to protect the civil rights of Jewish students under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Even if you don’t agree with every policy proposal from Heritage or every action by the Trump administration, we should be able to recognize and appreciate the seriousness with which they are treating this threat. Moreover, if you read Project Esther yourself, you’ll find not a “fascist” blueprint portrayed by the Times, but a sober, constitutional approach to defending American Jews and all American citizens from foreign-backed extremism.
Don’t just take The New York Times’s word for it. Read their article. Then read Project Esther. Judge for yourself. If you do, you will likely come away wondering what else The Times is misrepresenting.
