Something is rotting in the moral core of the Western world. It isn’t new—it’s just back.
The Israel Innovation Fund has withdrawn from The Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther, a program supposedly devoted to fighting antisemitism.
We didn’t walk away because of politics; we walked away because of hypocrisy—because the very people claiming to fight antisemitism are now defending those who platform it. When Heritage president Kevin D. Roberts defended Tucker Carlson—even after Carlson invoked the ancient blood-libel imagery of Jews “plotting” the murder of Jesus at the memorial for Charlie Kirk—it was not a slip. It was a sermon.
“In a lamplit room, a group of men eating hummus decide what to do about this guy telling the truth about them,” Carlson told mourners. That grotesque caricature could have been lifted straight from a medieval passion play.
It is hard to overstate the obscenity of that imagery. The crucifixion narrative has justified two thousand years of persecution, expulsions, and slaughter. Yet Carlson, a man who claims to revere history, resurrected it on stage—and still found defenders. Only days later, he doubled down, hosting Holocaust denier and white nationalist Nick Fuentes on his program. Fuentes ranted about “organized Jewry” and sneered at the Zionist project; Carlson nodded, smirked, and let him finish. This wasn’t journalism—it was the mainstreaming of hate.
And then came Roberts’s video statement. He said he “made a mistake,” but refused to name it. There was no repentance, no moral clarity, no promise of reform. Inside Heritage, staff resigned—including members of its antisemitism task force. What the public saw as an apology was internal damage control. Heritage’s leadership has confused public relations with principle.
Megyn Kelly joined the chorus of excuses, insisting Carlson “isn’t antisemitic” because “he’s my friend.” Apparently, proximity is the new purity test. Friendship has replaced ethics.
And Vice President JD Vance, confronted by a questioner who claimed Jews persecute Christians and manipulate presidents, couldn’t bring himself to say the simple words—“That’s antisemitic.” Instead, he offered a policy dodge: “This president isn’t being manipulated.” Silence isn’t neutrality; it’s surrender.
A pattern of surrender to antisemitism
These episodes are not isolated—they form a pattern. For months, Carlson has fixated on Jews and Israel, inviting voices steeped in conspiratorial venom. He even platformed an Orthodox nun, Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, known for advancing anti-Jewish tropes about Christian persecution and “Canaanite bloodlines.” The obsession has become an industry in its own right. What we are witnessing is the convergence of far-right and far-left antisemitism—the far right whispers about Jewish power; the far left shouts about Jewish privilege. One blames us for globalism, the other for nationalism. Together they meet in the same moral swamp, united by resentment.
Meanwhile, the so-called mainstream has lost its courage. America today resembles Europe a century ago—when political exhaustion and cultural cowardice allowed antisemitism back into polite society. No, this isn’t 1933. But the apathy, the rationalizations, and the genteel indifference feel hauntingly familiar. And now, as then, non-Jews are lecturing Jews about what antisemitism is. We’re told Carlson “didn’t mean it that way,” that Kelly “knows his heart,” that Roberts “just made an error.” Imagine telling Black Americans which remarks about them are racist. Imagine telling women which assaults “don’t count.” The arrogance is staggering—and the placation disgusting.
The reason this keeps happening is because Jewish leadership—particularly in the United States—never built the muscles to fight it. For decades, our institutions have chosen access over authenticity. They built donor networks instead of defense networks, gala circuits instead of guardrails. They wanted White House invitations more than Hebrew literacy. They hired PR consultants when they should have trained Krav Maga instructors. Now, with antisemitism roaring back, they issue statements instead of strategies. They play politics instead of power. But politics doesn’t save Jews. Power does.
That is why our withdrawal from Project Esther was more than symbolic—it was a declaration. The Heritage Foundation has shown it lacks the courage to confront hate when it comes from its own camp. Roberts’ sin wasn’t a misstatement; it was believing that moral conviction is negotiable. Predictably, critics accuse us of overreacting. But calling out antisemitism is not hysteria—it’s defense. Jewish history has earned us the right to recognize danger before it metastasizes.
Others claim this damages alliances. But an ally who demands silence in exchange for support is not an ally at all. True partnership requires truth. And yes, antisemitism on the left remains real and corrosive—but that is precisely the point. We condemn it everywhere. The difference is that we mean it consistently, without political convenience. The truth is bigger than Heritage, bigger than Tucker, bigger than Kelly or Vance. The truth is that Jewish security cannot be outsourced. Every time we’ve trusted others to define our safety, we’ve paid for it—in blood or in dignity. From the Crusades to Kishinev to Pittsburgh, the pattern is unchanged: survival belongs to those who defend themselves.
We need a new generation of Jewish courage—physical, cultural, and spiritual. Physical, because Jewish safety must be defended, not debated. Cultural, because Jewish pride must be expressed through creativity, not apology. Spiritual, because Jewish identity must be rooted in the Hebrew language and the covenant that has sustained us for 3,000 years.
That’s what I call Hebraization—the rebirth of Jewish confidence through the return to our own language, strength, and sovereignty. It isn’t ideology; it’s a survival strategy. A people that speaks its tongue cannot be silenced. A people that trains its body cannot be intimidated. A people that remembers who it is cannot be erased.
Partnerships are welcome. Performances are not. If you claim to stand with the Jewish people, prove it when it costs you. Speak up when your friends cross the line. Refuse to share platforms with those who mask hate as humor or “provocation.”
Because we are done renting our dignity to institutions too timid to defend it.
We are done outsourcing our courage to those who fear their own reflection.
And we are done pretending that survival is someone else’s responsibility.
Jewish safety belongs in Jewish hands.
Jewish pride belongs in Jewish hearts.
And Jewish destiny belongs to the Jewish people—alone.
Adam Scott Bellos is the author of Never Again Is Not Enough: Why Hebraization Is the Only Way to Save the Diaspora. He writes widely on Jewish identity, sovereignty, and cultural revival, urging a new era of Jewish strength grounded in language, innovation, and moral clarity.