Since antisemitism began to grow, I have frequently been critical of how The Forward—the most influential Jewish news source in America—has covered it. Too often, in both its news and editorials, it has downplayed the surge of antisemitism coming from the anti-Zionist left, portraying those of us who call it out as “weaponizing” antisemitism for political purposes. This stance, which I spoke about in my Yom Kippur presentation, has felt dismissive and frustrating, especially in the face of clear evidence of Jew-hatred masked as “criticism of Israel.”
Recently, though, The Forward has backed off a bit from this position. The sheer tsunami of antisemitism we’ve seen from the extreme left — not just online rhetoric but real-world harassment, vandalism, and violence — has made it impossible to sustain this fiction that it is “mere” criticism of Israel. The hateful chants, attacks on Jewish students, and desecration of Jewish public and private spaces have exposed how deeply embedded antisemitism is among these so-called “protesters” and “activists” the line between anti-Zionist and antisemite obliterated by the reality of their obvious Jew-hatred.
So last week when a teaser from The Forward about the “weaponizing” of antisemitism landed in my inbox, my blood pressure rose a little. Until I read the article.
The piece is about "Project Esther," a new initiative of the Heritage Foundation purporting to combat antisemitism. On the surface, this sounds like something worth considering. But it did not take long for me to realize that the teaser was accurate. Project Esther is a textbook case of weaponizing fears of antisemitism. In reality, it has far less to do with protecting Jews and far more to do with promoting the Heritage Foundation’s broader right-wing agenda — that same agenda outlined in Project 2025, an extremist right-wing manifesto so radical that President-Elect Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from it both before and since the election.
One solid giveaway of just how little interest its creators have in the welfare of the Jewish community is that not a single Jewish advocacy organization was consulted or had any hand in developing it. This is not just an oversight; it’s a glaring indicator that their goals are not about safeguarding Jews but about weaponizing our fears to further their own mission. Another dead giveaway? There is not one peep about antisemitism on the right.
When questioned about that, they dismissed right-wing antisemitism as “not part of being conservative.” This is as ludicrous as claiming that antisemitism on the far-left has nothing to do with progressivism. Both ends of the political spectrum have extremists in their midst, and both have a moral obligation to confront those extremists rather than make excuses for them.
What makes Project Esther a form of antisemitism itself isn’t necessarily the accusations it makes — though targeting Jewish figures like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a staunch supporter of Israel, certainly pushes it close. The real problem is the framework of the report: a conspiratorial narrative of Jewish “masterminds” and their allies seeking to control Western culture and democracy. These are classic antisemitic tropes, unsubstantiated by evidence and dripping with malice.
To be clear, some of the report’s criticisms are not entirely unfounded. There absolutely are groups with financial and ideological ties to Iran and terrorist interests. If I were writing such a report, I would absolutely include them. But being right about some things does not grant them license to fabricate conspiracies or smear individuals without proof. Half a truth is as useless as an entire lie.
For me, the conclusion was inescapable. In this case The Forward got it right. This initiative is not genuinely about combating antisemitism. It is, among other things, about leveraging Jewish vulnerability to advance a broader, reactionary political program. And that, in and of itself, is a form of antisemitism.
To effectively combat antisemitism means calling it out across the political spectrum because by now we must acknowledge that it comes in many forms. Sometimes it's tiki-torch marchers in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us,” and at other times it's protesters in campus encampments harassing Jewish students in the name of anti-Zionism. Antisemitism has infected extremists on every side of our political spectrum and we have an obligation to make it known.
As I have been saying (repeatedly!) we cannot afford to let antisemitism be a partisan issue. Our safety and integrity depend on confronting it wherever it festers — no matter whose political agenda it might serve.