The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, has returned to the public eye with another initiative: Project Esther.
Described as a "national strategy to combat antisemitism," the initiative was released as a report in October 2024 (archived). Project Esther outlines various proposals to not only fight antisemitism but also limit pro-Palestinian activism, with the goal of state or federal governments considering the ideas.
Multiple Jewish organizations have criticized the plan, including a nonprofit group called the Nexus Project that says it is leading a national response to Project Esther. The Nexus Project said, in part, that the plan "frames pro-Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Israeli government policy as inherent antisemitic."
It's unclear if, or to what extent, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is considering Project Esther's proposals. Some of the administration's decisions have aligned with them, though the administration has not explicitly mentioned or referenced the initiative. Some staff members at The Heritage Foundation have ties to Trump, including one person who reportedly oversaw the creation of Project Esther.
Posts about what Project Esther allegedly contains racked up more than 100,000 likes and tens of thousands of shares in July 2025. The posts made various claims about the report's recommendations, including assertions that it called for replacing the Constitution with biblical law, criminalizing abortion, requiring women to submit to male authority, requiring religious homeschooling, and placing bans on anything related to the LGBTQ+ community.
What exactly does Project Esther recommend? Scores of Snopes readers searched our website and emailed us to ask whether the initiative was real and, if so, what it proposes.
A spokesperson for The Heritage Foundation directed Snopes to the report in response to several of our questions. The White House did not respond to our inquiry on the matter by the time of publication.
Here's what we know about The Heritage Foundation's Project Esther:
What is Project Esther's backstory?
Project Esther is named after a biblical Jewish heroine who risked her life to save the Jewish people from a massacre in ancient Persia.
The Heritage Foundation published the report (archived), titled "Project Esther: A National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism," on its website on Oct. 7, 2024, nearly a month before American voters elected Trump to a second presidential term.
What does the report call for?
Project Esther calls for the creation of a so-called "National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism" and makes various proposals that lump together groups that oppose the Israeli military or support Palestine with supporters of Hamas, calling them "Hamas Support Organizations (HSOs)" that make up a so-called "Hamas Support Network (HSN)."
"Driven by an ideology that is decidedly antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-American, the network revolves around American Muslims for Palestine," the report reads, in part.
Groups identified as HSOs include National Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and Alliance for Global Justice, among others.
The report also says:
The virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American groups comprising the so-called pro-Palestinian movement inside the United States are exclusively pro-Palestine and —more so— pro-Hamas. They are part of a highly organized, global Hamas Support Network (HSN) and therefore effectively a terrorist support network.
Project Esther lists 19 goals. They include proposals to remove so-called "HSO propaganda" from school curricula, identify students and faculty who are in violation of federal visa requirements, gather evidence of "HSOs' criminal activity" and suppress protests:
HSO propaganda purged from curricula. - HSO-supporting faculty and/or staff removed or fired.
- HSO access to campuses lost and/or denied.
- Foreign members of HSOs/HSN access to campuses lost and/or denied.
- Money from foreign HSO supporters not accepted by schools.
- HSOs unable to raise revenue.
- HSOs unable to transfer money to Hamas.
- Congressional "Hamas Caucus" marginalized.
- Executive branch presented with undeniable evidence of HSOs' criminal activity.
- Social media no longer allow the spread of antisemitic content.
- HSOs' voice/access to propaganda dissemination mechanisms lost.
- HSOs cannot/unwilling to communicate with each other.
- HSOs unable to coordinate action.
- Permits for HSOs to protest or demonstrate are restricted and/or denied.
- People are unwilling to join demonstrations.
- Foreign HSO leadership no longer present in U.S.
- Preponderance of Jewish community perceives HSOs as a threat to their safety.
- Preponderance of broader American public perceives HSOs as a threat to their safety and a functioning society.
- Critical vulnerabilities targeted.
The report also outlines 28 points that it calls
HSO propaganda discredited. - HSO propaganda is not academically accreditable.
- Curricula must adhere to academic freedom and present multiple perspectives.
- HSO-supporting faculty and staff's credibility undermined.
- HSO-supporting faculty and staff lose their credentials.
- HSOs in violation of campus policies.
- HSOs lose affiliation with campuses.
- HSO members in violation of student visa requirements.
- HSO-supporting foreign faculty and staff in violation of visa requirements.
- Foreign HSO leaders and members voluntarily depart the U.S.
- Foreign HSO leaders and members deported from the U.S.
- HSOs not eligible for public funds.
- Institutions voluntarily refuse money from HSO supporters.
- Institutions cease providing money to HSOs.
- People and groups refuse to donate to HSOs.
- HSOs not permitted to make money.
- HSOs lose conduits for transferring money to Hamas.
- Progressive left support to "Hamas Caucus" is untenable.
- Evidence of HSOs' criminal activity gathered.
- Social media view HSOs' presence as a liability.
- Social media platforms unwilling to host or promote HSOs.
- Social media users do not want to be affiliated with HSOs.
- HSOs do not trust each other.
- Localities unwilling to grant permits for HSO demonstrations or protests.
- Potential demonstrators fear affiliation with HSOs.
- HSOs present a threat to American (Jewish and otherwise) livelihoods.
- HSOs present a threat to Americans' personal beliefs.
- Critical vulnerabilities identified.
The Heritage Foundation said in the report that it intends to "organize and guide" willing partners "in a coordinated effort" to fight antisemitism in the U.S. The think tank added that it hopes to form a "public-private partnership" if a supportive administration is in the White House. Public-private partnerships typically refer to collaborations between government agencies and private-sector companies.
What are Project Esther's ties to Trump?
Since the beginning of Trump's second presidential term, s
For example, the Trump administration sought to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was released from federal immigration detention after 104 days in late June 2025. That action appears to align with Project Esther's "necessary condition" of deporting "foreign HSO leaders and members" from the U.S.
Additionally, the State Department revoked around 300 visas by early April 2025, "many of them held by college students alleged to have participated in activities advocating or Palestine and its people on the nation's campuses," ABC News reported. Project Esther recommends the identification of "HSO" members or supporters in violation of visa requirements.
Trump distanced himself from Heritage's well-known Project 2025 initiative prior to the presidential election, but many of his second-term policies have aligned with proposals within it.
Snopes reached out to the White House to ask if any members of the Trump administration played a role in developing Project Esther and whether the administration was working with The Heritage Foundation to implement the initiative's goals via federal policy. We did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The report on the Heritage Foundation's website does not list authors.
However, a May 2025 New York Times report about Project Esther identified Victoria Coates,
According to the Times' report, Coates named two people as co-authors of Project Esther: Robert Greenway, the director of a Heritage Foundation center devoted to national security, and Daniel Flesch, a senior policy analyst for the Middle East and North Africa at The Heritage Foundation.
Snopes asked The Heritage Foundation who authored Project Esther, and a spokesperson for the think tank
What do critics say about Project Esther?
The Nexus Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating antisemitism, says it is leading a national response to Project Esther.
In a report analyzing the Heritage Foundation initiative, the nonprofit group said, though the project claims to be a strategy to combat antisemitism, it actually redefines it "in ways that blur the line between legitimate protest and hate speech, while simultaneously ignoring and obscuring right-wing antisemitism."
The Nexus Project continued, in part:
The plan frames pro-Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Israeli government policy as inherently antisemitic, designating them part of a so-called "Hamas Support Network."
It has become a blueprint for aggressive government action against protesters, educators, and entire academic institutions. Many of its proposals are already being implemented, including visa revocations, campus funding cuts, and immigration enforcement against student activists.
Project Esther also removes "critical distinctions between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, peaceful protest and terrorist activity, and criticism of Israel and support for Hamas," according the group. The Heritage Foundation also developed Project Esther with "minimal Jewish input" and its approach "lacks support among most American Jews," The Nexus Project alleged.
Stefanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, "strongly rejected" the "Hamas Support Organization" label that the group received, according to the New York Times' report.
A spokesperson for JVP also issued a statement to Snopes via email criticizing Project Esther, saying in part that it "does not actually engage with dismantling true antisemitism" and instead "focuses only on attacking pro-Palestinian advocacy."
The full statement is as follows:
Project Esther does not actually engage with dismantling true antisemitism: the report contains no mention of the Tree of Life Shooting, the neo-Nazi march on Charlottesville, or other instances of vitriol against Jews for being Jewish. Instead, Project Esther focuses only on attacking pro-Palestinian advocacy. The Heritage Foundation's Project Esther is a radically authoritarian blueprint for the far-right to dismantle the Palestine solidarity movement under the false guise of "fighting antisemitism" — and then use the same dangerous (and currently illegal) tactics on other progressive causes. In particular, the Heritage Foundation is falsely smearing civil society groups that support Palestinian human rights so it can weaponize anti-terror laws to crush these groups and the larger movement — and then do so to any other cause the far-right doesn't like.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world. JVP organizes a movement of U.S. Jews into solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality and dignity for all people and in accordance with international law. In our assessment, the form of Zionism that is present in Israel today is a Jewish supremacist ideology that is used to legalize apartheid and the dispossession of Palestinians from their land. Our anti-Zionist work is not only an act of solidarity with Palestinians, but also a commitment to creating the Jewish futures we all deserve, where Jewish people — like all people everywhere — live in safety and freedom wherever they make home.
(Snopes reached out to several other groups identified as "HSOs" in the report and will update this story if we receive a response.)
A spokesperson for The Heritage Foundation declined to comment on The Nexus Project's claims, referring us to the report.
What about the claims in social media posts?
Posts with various claims about Project Esther's recommendations circulated online in July 2025. For example, some social media users claimed the initiative calls for replacing the Constitution with biblical law, criminalizing abortion, requiring women to submit to male authority, requiring religious homeschooling and placing bans on anything related to the LGBTQ+ community.
Based on our review of the report, these claims were misleading or entirely false.
As far as the claim about the Constitution, the report references the country's founding document near a mention of "relevant religious texts." However, it does not explicitly call for replacing the Constitution with biblical law. The relevant section reads (emphasis ours):
As American citizens, our authorities derive from the Republic's founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Beyond that are federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and regulations. We have several laws at our disposal that may help to exploit HSN and HSO vulnerabilities, such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO); and counterterrorism, hate speech, and immigration laws. Each of our coalition partners has its own relevant charter delineating its purpose, intent, and constraints. Finally, given the nature or our charge, we may seek moral guidance from relevant religious texts.
Additionally, Snopes did not find any phrasing about women supposedly submitting to male authority, nor did we find evidence of the report calling for criminal punishments against people who seek abortions, as the posts claimed.
The report also doesn't explicitly touch on homeschooling. However, it criticizes the public school system for supposedly incorporating pro-Palestine ideas in curriculum, writing, "HSOs have infiltrated their ideology into the U.S. education system across all levels." The relevant section said, in part:
The U.S. education system fosters antisemitism under the guise of "pro-Palestinian," anti-Israel, anti-Zionist narratives across universities, high schools, and elementary schools, often under the umbrella or within the rubric of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and similar Marxist ideology.
The report references the LGBTQ+ community in a section that criticizes efforts by former President Joe Biden's administration to curb antisemitism
Here's what the report says:
In May 2023, the Biden–Harris Administration applauded itself for publishing the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. Less than one year later, antisemitism runs rampant across the country's universities. This may be due to the completely feckless nature of the Biden–Harris Administration and its policies; the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism appears to have more to do with furthering the progressive left's obsession with LGBTQ+ and all other minorities than it has to do with anything substantive in countering antisemitism.
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