The US Health and Human Services Department’s decision this week to terminate $60 million in federal grants to Harvard University for failing to address antisemitic harassment is a move that will finally stop Jew-hatred in its tracks. But this victory didn’t come out of nowhere. Behind the scenes, one institution deserves credit for this masterstroke against evil: the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther.
This groundbreaking initiative has redefined the way antisemitism is being fought in America, shifting from toothless outrage to unapologetic action.
According to Project Esther, “America’s virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American ‘pro-Palestinian movement’ is part of a global Hamas Support Network that is trying to compel the US government to abandon its long-standing support for Israel.” By holding the HSN accountable, Project Esther has launched the most powerful and effective counteroffensive to antisemitism for which the Jewish community must be grateful.
Named for the biblical heroine who stood up to genocidal forces in ancient Persia, the Heritage Foundation’s project is going after the campus radicals, progressive ideologues, and Islamist sympathizers who glorify Hamas and terrorize Jewish students. Launched on October 7, 2024, it has brilliantly devised a comprehensive plan that hits the HSN where it hurts: cutting their funding, revoking visas, purging antisemitic curricula, and removing terror apologists from university payrolls.
Jews cannot fight this battle alone
The plan’s authors, Victoria Coates and Daniel Flesch, are the perfect embodiment of the alliance we so desperately need: a religious Christian policy expert and a proud American Jew and former IDF lone soldier. Together, Coates and Flesch are offering a road map to deal with Hamas the way America once marginalized the KKK and al-Qaeda. And it’s working.
Yet, despite these heroic efforts, Project Esther has become the target of despicable slander. In a recent New York Times hit piece titled “The Christians Accusing US Jews of Antisemitism,” Michelle Goldberg engaged in fear-mongering and intellectual dishonesty. She vilifies the “perversity” of Project Esther for the fact that “ultra-Zionist gentiles get to lecture Jews about antisemitism even as they lay waste to the liberal culture that has allowed American Jews to thrive.”
She accuses Heritage of lecturing Jews while ignoring the fact that Project Esther was developed in consultation with numerous Jewish groups like the Coalition for Jewish Values, the Combat Antisemitism Movement, the Zionist Organization of America, and my own organization, Israel365.
While the Anti-Defamation League and other liberal Jewish groups have watched helplessly as antisemitism skyrocketed post-October 7, Project Esther is leading the fight with courage and conviction. Why? Because it understands the true nature of the radical threat. The growing Palestinian movement isn’t merely about “anti-Zionism” or student protests; it’s about a metastasizing danger that seeks the destruction of not only Israel but America itself.
Let’s be honest. With only 3,000 synagogues in America compared to over 300,000 churches, Jews simply don’t have the numbers to fight this battle alone. But when Americans, Jews and Christians alike, see the Hamas Support Network for what it truly is, an existential threat to all people of faith, our efforts and effectiveness become quite literally, 100 times more powerful.
The Jewish community must stop being suspicious of our Christian allies who understand better than we do that the mobs chanting “From the River to the Sea” are not just anti-Israel, they are anti-Christian and anti-American too.Instead of alienating our allies with misplaced cynicism or theological mistrust, we must embrace this historic moment. Never before have so many Christians stood in such firm solidarity with the Jewish people. In fact, we should be thanking our enemies for making it clear who our true friends are.
If Jews continue to insult or ignore our Christian friends, we risk losing them. That would not only be a self-fulfilling prophecy but a self-inflicted tragedy. One of the greatest miracles of Israel’s rebirth has been the unprecedented reconciliation between Jews and Christians. We must nurture this fragile alliance like never before.
What’s most inspiring about Project Esther is that it is more than a plan; it is a spiritual movement. As Victoria Coates rightly stated, “The biblical values on which our civilization rests have always promoted an alliance between Christians and Jews.”
She’s absolutely right. The same Judeo-Christian ideals that America was built upon, were conceived of in Israel. Our enemies understand this connection clearly, which is why they target the Saturday people and the Sunday people with equal hatred.
It’s time for us to recognize that the fight against antisemitism cannot be won by ourselves. The Jewish people are blessed to have an ally like the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther in our corner. They didn’t have to prioritize antisemitism, but they chose to.
Now it’s up to us to reciprocate that commitment. Every synagogue should find a church to partner with. Every rabbi should reach out to a local pastor. And every Jewish organization should support Project Esther, not just with words, but with action, “for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)
The writer, a rabbi, is the founder of Israel365 and a member of the Heritage Foundation’s National Task Force for Combating Antisemitism. Contact him at [email protected].
