Rabbi Menken: Heritage's Moral Collapse 'Threat to American Civilization'

Rabbi Yaakov Menken blasted the Heritage Foundation under the leadership of President Kevin Roberts, saying it "really needs to realize the danger" it has unleashed by defending Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes' antisemitism under the guise of conservatism.

Appearing Friday on Newsmax's "American Agenda," the executive vice president for the Coalition for Jewish Values — an organization that represents over 2,500 Orthodox rabbis nationwide — said his organization left the Heritage Foundation's National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism after deafening silence and shocking deflection from Roberts.

"It was actually Tuesday morning on Newsmax's 'Wake Up America' that I announced we were leaving the National Task Force because Kevin Roberts had not been responding at all adequately to criticism of that first atrocious video," Menken said.

Since then, Roberts admitted that he made a "mistake" by posting the video and has taken it down from the Heritage website.

But Menken expressed shock that Roberts has yet to criticize or condemn Carlson for his antisemitic statements and acts.

"One has to understand that he from the outset did not set out a rational understanding that expressed that he and all understood what we who are criticizing Tucker Carlson were talking about," Menken said.

"He set up a straw man. He said, 'Christians can criticize Israel without being antisemitic.'"

"Well, I criticize Israel's policies every day of the week, and I don't think I'm an antisemite last time I checked," Menken continued. "So obviously he was doing something critically wrong, did not adequately respond to it."

Menken said the task force was forced to separate entirely from Heritage because Roberts refused to apologize or promise real change.

"And finally, last night, the task force itself announced that they were separating from the Heritage Foundation because they couldn't get Roberts to move forward with an adequate apology and a promise that Heritage would do better," he said.

A letter signed by task force co-chairs the Rev. Mario Bramnick, Victoria Coates, Ellie Cohanim, and the Rev. Luke Moon said the group would "continue the work ... outside the Heritage Foundation for a season."

The move followed a growing internal revolt within Heritage itself.

Senior fellows and task force members accused Roberts of defending Carlson and refusing to denounce antisemitic rhetoric within the movement.

During an extremely tense and confrontational town hall at Heritage's Washington headquarters, several longtime fellows and policy experts demanded Roberts' resignation.

Staff members directly challenged his language, especially his use of the phrase "venomous coalition" to describe critics of Carlson — words many said invoked antisemitic tropes.

One member said, "We, as an organization, have been unable to utter the words ... if you want to cut through it, Tucker is an antisemite — as we, as Heritage, do not want to associate with him. And we still do not have a statement about that."

Others said Roberts' refusal to disavow Carlson had disgraced the institution's legacy and alienated its allies.

Economist Stephen Moore and legal scholar Chris DeMuth — both widely respected fellows at Heritage — have resigned, joining former Rep. Michele Bachmann and Daryl Hedding of the Shai Fund, who called Heritage's behavior "woefully inadequate."

Despite the outcry, Roberts has refused to sever ties with Carlson.

His vague public apology — which never specified what he was apologizing for — only deepened the anger among staff and allies.

Menken said Heritage's failure to act is not just a political mistake but a moral collapse.

"Those lies are wrapped up in different clothing by [Louis] Farrakhan, by [Adolf] Hitler, and now by Carlson," Menken said.

"But it doesn't matter. It's all that same hate. It's that same set of lies.

"And Heritage really needs to realize that, because it poses a huge danger — not to the Jewish people who have a divine promise of survival; it's more a threat to American civilization," Menken said.

"If you look at the civilizations that a welcomed hatred of Jews, they all destroyed themselves in the process."

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