| According to the internet, Yoram Reuben Hazony, who I was not aware of because I mostly don’t pay attention to that kind of thing, is an Israeli-American philosopher, Bible scholar, and political theorist. He is president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem and serves as the chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation. Mr. Roberts brought in the heavy guns, I guess. The below is from Wednesday. It remains to be seen whether the Heritage Foundation will be able to persuade them to return: |
[IsraelTimes] At least eight individuals and organizations affiliated with Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, launched last year under the Project Esther banner, have resigned or threatened to do so, citing Heritage president Kevin Roberts’s decision to stand by Carlson and his description of the television personality’s critics as a “venomous coalition.”
The defections suggest that Project Esther — unveiled on the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel as a conservative “national strategy to counter antisemitism”— could be imploding.
Neither the co-chairs of the initiative nor the Heritage Foundation immediately responded to a request for comment about the resignations.
But speaking Monday night at Hillsdale College, an epicenter of contemporary Christian conservatism, Roberts offered new comments that showed he was aware of the hurt felt by Jews close to Heritage. Calling his initial video defending Carlson “a mistake made with the best of intentions,” he apologized, “especially to any friends, particularly Jewish friends,” and said, “The Heritage Foundation will never, ever, ever stop fighting against antisemitism in all its forms.”
And the four co-chairs of Heritage’s antisemitism task force said they were asking members to “give us additional time” to address the crisis, according to a message they sent to partners that was obtained by the National Review.
| Names and descriptions of people and organizations that have walked away or are considering it can be read at the link. |
When Project Esther debuted in 2024, Heritage hailed it as proof that the conservative movement takes antisemitism seriously. The 33-page blueprint called for purging “Hamas propaganda” from school curricula, firing “Hamas-aligned faculty” from US universities, and pressuring social-media platforms to restrict antisemitic content. The goal, it said, was to make “Hamas Supporters” as socially toxic as the Ku Klux Klan or al-Qaeda.