Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation opened his speech at this year’s National Conservatism (NatCon) conference in Jerusalem by hailing Yoram Hazony, whom he called “great friend,” as “the most important conservative intellectual in the world [sic] today.” To many Americans, that title will come as a surprise. Most have never even heard of Roberts, to say nothing of Hazony. Yet the two men are close personal friends; the latter currently sitting on the board of trustees at The Heritage Foundation. Roberts continued his speech by noting that Heritage was the “first and only organization on the political right to convene a national antisemitism task force.” Right after this, and without skipping a beat, he championed Project Esther, which he described as a “blueprint to counter anti-semitism in the United States.” Doubtless, the initiative will be expanded to study and combat the same “anti-semitism” on the political right. These are strange remarks to hear from the president of the most prominent and influential organ within American conservatism, a movement dedicated to upholding free speech as an ideal.

Originally published in Integrity Magazine. Read original article

Original Tags: Culture, Politics, World Affairs, American Identity, Identity Politics, Israel, Jews, Liberalism, National Conservatism, President Trump, Yoram Hazony, Zionism