US backtracks after conditioning disaster funds on Israel boycott refusal

WASHINGTON

The Trump administration changed course Monday amid outrage sparked by its threat to withhold at least $1.9 billion in disaster preparedness funding to states and local governments that support boycotts of Israel or Israeli firms.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appears to have deleted the relevant language from its internal terms and conditions, which included clauses mandating that entities seeking funding not support efforts to blacklist Israel.

The original language said applicants must not support severing "commercial relations, or otherwise limiting commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies or with companies doing business in or with Israel or authorized by, licensed by, or organized under the laws of Israel to do business.”

The April language appears to have been deleted from a newer version that was posted after the news media reported that 11 grant notices published Friday referenced the terms and conditions that contained the anti-Israel boycott.

"There is NO FEMA requirement tied to Israel in any current NOFO. No states have lost funding, and no new conditions have been imposed. FEMA grants remain governed by existing law and policy and not political litmus tests," DHS said on X, using an acronym to refer to a notice of funding opportunity.

"DHS will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism. Those who engage in racial discrimination should not receive a single dollar of federal funding," it added.

The since-reneged on political requirement is unusual, particularly for funding that covers a wide range of critical programs for state and local governments, including cybersecurity, emergency food and shelter, port security to thwart potential terrorist attacks, and search-and-rescue equipment.

The media reports prompted a vocal backlash from prominent voices within US President Donald Trump's MAGA, or Make America Great Again, movement.

"Denying Americans who won’t support the genocide being conducted by your friends. Trump has fully betrayed America for (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and if you cannot see that now you are completely blind," far-right MAGA personality Candace Owens said on X.

Already, over half of all US states — 38 — have laws on the books, or executive orders in place, punishing individuals and businesses who participate in the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, according to the Jewish Virtual Library.

The first to adopt such a measure was Tennessee in 2015, followed that year by South Carolina and Illinois. Alaska is the last state to have taken action against BDS when Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an executive order in 2024 directing state departments to halt all business with entities supporting BDS.

The laws and executive actions have come under intense scrutiny over whether they are in compliance with the US Constitution.

The BDS movement, launched by Palestinian civil society in 2005, draws on a legacy of boycotts that helped topple apartheid in South Africa, linking the fight for Palestinian liberation to broader struggles against injustice.

While boycotts have largely been upheld under the First Amendment's free speech protections, the Supreme Court in 2023 declined to take up a case brought by an Arkansas newspaper after the state sought to force it to sign a declaration saying it would not support boycotts of Israel.

The top court's decision left in place a lower court ruling upholding the mandate, though the Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the law.

"The Supreme Court missed an important opportunity to reaffirm that the First Amendment protects the right to boycott,” Brian Hauss, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the newspaper in court, said in a statement shortly after the top court's decision.

“From the Boston Tea Party to the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the boycott of apartheid South Africa, Americans have proudly exercised that right to make their voices heard. But if states can suppress boycotts of Israel, then they can suppress boycotts of the National Rifle Association or Planned Parenthood," he added.

Demands to boycott Israel have grown increasingly vocal amid its ongoing war against the besieged Gaza Strip, which has killed over 60,800 Palestinians and led to mass starvation and widespread destruction across the coastal enclave.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.