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By: Fern Sidman – Jewish Voice News

In a stunning rebuke of one of America’s most prominent conservative institutions, Rabbi Yaakov Menken, a leading Orthodox Jewish scholar and founding CEO of the Coalition for Jewish Values, announced his resignation Tuesday from the Heritage Foundation’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, citing the organization’s “moral failure” to denounce antisemitic rhetoric amplified by Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes.

Speaking on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America”, Menken said he could no longer, in good conscience, remain affiliated with an initiative that claims to fight antisemitism while its leadership excuses those who traffic in it.

“We are resigning from the Heritage Foundation’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, because [Heritage President Kevin] Roberts is simply not apologizing for what he did,” Menken told Newsmax on air.

His decision follows a week-long controversy that has engulfed Heritage and shaken conservative circles. As Newsmax reported, Roberts had published a video defending Carlson after the former Fox News host conducted a friendly podcast interview with Fuentes — an avowed white supremacist and Holocaust denier — in which Fuentes railed against “organized Jewry” and “Zionist Jews” as “enemies of America.” Roberts went further, describing Carlson’s critics as part of a “venomous coalition,” language that Menken and other Jewish leaders say echoed classic antisemitic tropes.

In a resignation letter shared exclusively with Newsmax, Menken wrote that the Heritage Foundation’s credibility on antisemitism had been fatally compromised.

“We cannot grant legitimacy to an effort to combat antisemitism operated by the Heritage Foundation while Heritage is validating antisemitism and giving it a platform,” he declared.

As the Newsmax report emphasized, Menken’s withdrawal from the task force marks the first high-profile departure from the Heritage initiative since the controversy began — but insiders suggest it may not be the last. His letter reportedly struck a chord among several conservative Jewish figures who had joined the task force under the assumption that it would bridge divides and confront antisemitism “wherever it appeared — left, right, or center.”

Instead, Menken said, Heritage’s leadership had failed that mission.

“Nobody should be platforming hate or discrimination,” he told Newsmax. “When Tucker Carlson brings people on his show who deny the Holocaust, who mock Jewish faith, who accuse Israel of genocide — that’s not dialogue, that’s danger.”

The uproar began when Nick Fuentes, a self-professed admirer of Adolf Hitler, appeared on Carlson’s podcast in what Newsmax described as a “disturbingly casual” conversation. Fuentes repeated antisemitic conspiracy theories, including claims that Jews “control America,” “manipulated” President Donald Trump, and “had advance knowledge of 9/11.” Carlson, rather than challenging him, responded sympathetically, remarking that “Christian Zionists are worse than anyone.”

Fuentes’s history of violent rhetoric is well documented. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, cited in the Newsmax report, has called him “a well-known white supremacist, anti-Semite, and Holocaust denier.” The Center has chronicled numerous instances in which Fuentes mocked the murder of six million Jews, once sneering, “How long would it take you to make six million? The math doesn’t seem to add up.”

Fuentes has also openly gloated, “I piss on your Talmud. Jews get the f*** out of America.”

That such a figure was granted a national platform — and that the leader of a major conservative think tank subsequently defended it — shocked both Jewish and non-Jewish observers.

“Heritage can’t lead the fight against antisemitism while its president is normalizing it,” Menken said bluntly to Newsmax. “It’s hypocrisy, pure and simple.”

In response to widespread condemnation, Roberts later attempted to clarify his position. He issued a statement saying that he “abhors” Fuentes’ antisemitism but insisted he stood by Carlson, describing him as “a close friend” who was being unfairly maligned by the media.

Yet, as the Newsmax report noted, Roberts’ refusal to explicitly condemn Carlson — or to retract his characterization of Carlson’s critics as a “venomous coalition” — only deepened the backlash.

“Condemning Fuentes but embracing Carlson is like deploring the flame while fanning the fire,” Menken told Newsmax. “You can’t say you’re against antisemitism while defending those who normalize its language.”

Throughout his interview with Newsmax, Rabbi Menken was careful to stress that his decision was not about silencing free speech, but about refusing to subsidize or legitimize hate.

“It’s not about canceling anybody,” he said. “There’s a huge difference between saying somebody doesn’t have a First Amendment right to say what they say, and saying we’re going to pay to give that person a platform.”

He drew a moral distinction between open discourse and reckless amplification, arguing that Heritage’s leadership has confused tolerance with complicity.

“This isn’t censorship,” he said on Newsmax. “This is accountability. If we are serious about fighting antisemitism, then we cannot excuse it when it comes from voices on ‘our side.’”

As the Newsmax report observed, Menken’s departure from Heritage underscores a broader reckoning within American conservatism over how to handle extremist elements that have gained traction online.

The Heritage Foundation, long seen as the intellectual flagship of the conservative movement, launched its National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism earlier this year, positioning itself as a moral counterweight to rising hatred on campuses and in progressive circles. The initiative included Jewish thought leaders and Christian allies alike and was designed to challenge both left-wing anti-Zionism and right-wing conspiracy theories.

That mission now lies in jeopardy.

“By failing to disown antisemitic rhetoric from Carlson and Fuentes, Roberts has undermined the entire project,” one senior Heritage fellow told Newsmax on condition of anonymity. “You can’t lead on this issue if you won’t lead with integrity.”

Menken warned that the right’s reluctance to confront antisemitism in its own ranks could mirror the Democratic Party’s paralysis in dealing with its radical left flank.

“If we don’t stand up to the extremists now, they will take over the conversation — just as they have on the other side,” he said. “We cannot allow that to happen.”

The backlash has extended beyond Menken. As Newsmax reported, respected Heritage board member Robert P. George, a conservative academic at Princeton University, has privately urged Roberts to resign. Others within the foundation are reportedly pressing for an internal review of the task force’s operations and messaging.

So far, Heritage has declined to comment on Menken’s resignation or the internal dissent it has provoked. Newsmax has reached out to all four co-chairs of the task force — Mario Bramnick, Victoria Coates, Ellie Cohanim, and Luke Moon — but none responded by press time.

Behind the scenes, donors and allied organizations have expressed alarm that a think tank once synonymous with moral clarity is now being accused of moral blindness.

“Heritage used to be where conservative principles met ethical leadership,” one former board member told Newsmax. “This crisis calls both into question.”

The Menken resignation is emblematic of a larger concern — that social media personalities and online ideologues have eclipsed traditional thought leaders within the conservative movement.

The Newsmax report highlighted that Carlson, who was once among the most-watched figures in right-leaning media, has increasingly aligned himself with isolationist and conspiratorial narratives, including claims that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza — rhetoric that, Rabbi Menken argued, “devalues Jewish life and offers backhanded support to Hamas.”

“When Tucker Carlson uses his platform to spread those lies, it’s not journalism,” Menken said on Newsmax. “It’s propaganda that emboldens hate.”

For Rabbi Menken, the choice to step down was not just political, but moral. In his Newsmax interview, he framed the issue as a test of conscience for American conservatism.

“You can’t fight antisemitism selectively,” he said. “You can’t say it’s wrong when it comes from the left but turn a blind eye when it comes from the right. Truth doesn’t have a party.”

He expressed hope that his resignation would serve as a wake-up call for Heritage and other institutions confronting the corrosive influence of extremists cloaked in the language of free thought.

“The real danger,” Menken told Newsmax, “isn’t that people like Fuentes exist — it’s that powerful people think they can flirt with his ideas and not get burned.”

As the Heritage Foundation faces growing criticism and calls for accountability, Rabbi Menken’s departure may signal more than a personal protest. It represents a broader moral crossroads for the American right — a moment when the movement must decide whether its commitment to truth and decency can withstand the temptations of populist rage.

“Antisemitism has no place in our society — and no place in conservatism,” Menken concluded. “If that still needs to be said, then something has gone terribly wrong.”