A growing rift has erupted between prominent Jewish leaders and the Heritage Foundation following its president Kevin Roberts’ public defense of Tucker Carlson’s controversial podcast interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Two major figures in Jewish communal affairs — Bryan Leib, a well-known activist and former congressional candidate, and Adam Scott Belos, founder and CEO of The Israel Innovation Fund (TIIF) — have resigned or withdrawn their organizations from Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, citing moral concerns.
These figures join other significant Jewish organizations — including the Coalition for Jewish Values, Young Jewish Conservatives, Combat Antisemitism Movement, the National Jewish Advocacy Center — all of whom have resigned from the Heritage Task Force while harshly criticizing Roberts for his defense of Carlson.
These departures highlight an escalating backlash within conservative Jewish circles over the Heritage Foundation’s continued alignment with Carlson, a commentator who has offered harsh criticism of Jews and Israelis while repeatedly platforming figures accused of promoting antisemitic and white nationalist views.
In a post to X, Leib announced his resignation from Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism, a volunteer role he joined in January 2024.
Leib, who has long been active in Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy, said he was proud to have helped recruit several major Jewish organizations to the Task Force, but could no longer remain affiliated given Roberts’ stance.
“Effective immediately, I am resigning from this volunteer role,” Leib wrote.
“This decision is not a reflection on the Task Force’s Co-Chairs or my many friends at Heritage whom I continue to respect and admire. It is a reflection on @KevinRobertsTX’s decision to double down in his public support for Tucker Carlson and to label those of us who spoke out as a ‘venomous coalition.’ “
Leib added that Carlson’s brand of politics “tolerates Jew hatred and undermines our shared Judeo-Christian values.”
“Tucker Carlson is toxic,” he continued. “His brand of politics … has no place in America, and certainly not in the GOP — but I guess it does at Heritage.”
Leib’s resignation marks one of the first high-profile Jewish departures from the Heritage Foundation since Roberts’ defense of Carlson earlier this fall, when the foundation president praised Carlson for “asking hard questions” about U.S. foreign policy and denounced what he called a “venomous coalition” of critics attempting to “police conservative thought.”
Shortly after Leib’s announcement, TIIF — an organization headquartered in Jerusalem dedicated to strengthening Jewish identity, culture, and innovation — announced that it would be withdrawing entirely from Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism (NTFCA), a key component of the foundation’s “Project Esther.”
In a strongly worded statement, TIIF said its decision came in direct response to Roberts’ refusal to distance himself from Carlson, who recently conducted a video interview with Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and white nationalist.
“TIIF cannot in good conscience continue to partner with an organization whose president continues a defense of and alliance with Tucker Carlson,” the statement read. “To be clear, Carlson is one of the leading purveyors of antisemitic propaganda. It’s not just the hatemongers he chooses to platform, including his recent interview with Holocaust denier and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.”
TIIF’s statement further condemned Carlson’s history of comments deriding Christian Zionists, accusing Israel of genocide, and mocking conservative Christian leaders such as Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz.
“This is indefensible,” the group declared. “For the head of a leading policy institution to defend Carlson, as Dr. Roberts has done, legitimizes Tucker as he peddles antisemitic conspiracy, tells outright lies about Israel, fuels hate, and undermines the very purpose of Project Esther itself.”
Despite mounting criticism, Roberts has not issued a retraction or clarification of his comments.
His defense of Carlson — framed as a stand against “elite pressure to conform” — has drawn rebukes from both Jewish and Christian conservatives who argue that Heritage’s credibility in the fight against antisemitism is now deeply compromised.
TIIF’s statement emphasized that “true leadership in the fight against antisemitism demands moral clarity and courage — the courage to confront hatred wherever it appears: from the far right, the far left, and the intellectual mainstream that seeks to normalize or excuse it.”
The organization concluded by asserting that the Jewish community must rely on its own strength and empowerment in confronting antisemitism.
“The Jewish people cannot outsource our own defense in this fight against antisemitism,” TIIF wrote.
The resignations of Leib and Belos underscore a growing unease among Jewish conservatives over the direction of the American right’s discourse on Israel and antisemitism.
Once considered one of the conservative movement’s most respected think tanks, the Heritage Foundation now faces questions about whether it can continue to claim moral leadership on issues of faith, tolerance, and national identity while standing behind figures who give voice to antisemitic ideas.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
