The Trump administration has announced that any U.S. state or city participating in or supporting boycotts of Israel will be ineligible to receive key disaster preparedness funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
This unprecedented policy affects at least $1.9 billion in critical aid used for search and rescue equipment, emergency management salaries, and disaster readiness infrastructure.
According to newly released FEMA grant terms reviewed by Reuters, local governments must certify that they will not engage in any commercial boycotts specifically targeting Israeli companies if they wish to remain eligible for federal support.
At least 34 states already have anti-BDS laws or policies, according to the University of Pennsylvania, but Trump’s policy would now tie federal disaster aid to compliance, ensuring accountability at the highest level.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
The Israel requirement takes aim at the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The campaign’s supporters grew more vocal in 2023, after Hamas attacked southern Israel and Israel invaded Gaza in response.
“DHS will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism,” a spokesperson for Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement.
The requirement is largely symbolic. At least 34 states already have anti-BDS laws or policies, according to a University of Pennsylvania law journal. The American Jewish Committee supports the Trump administration’s policy, said Holly Huffnagle, the group’s director of antisemitism policy. Under one of the grant notices posted on Friday, FEMA will require major cities to agree to the Israel policy to receive a cut of $553.5 million set aside to prevent terrorism in dense areas.
New York City is slated to receive $92.2 million from the program, the most of all the recipients. Allocations are based on the agency’s analysis of “relative risk of terrorism,” according to the notice.
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