Trump admin to withhold disaster funding for states, cities who boycott Israel

Trump’s administration conditions $1.9 billion in FEMA disaster preparedness funds on states and cities not boycotting Israeli companies. States must certify they will not sever “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies” to access grants for search and rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries, and back up power systems.

The policy targets the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which Noem’s spokesperson labeled antisemitic, stating, “DHS will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism.” With 34 states already enforcing anti-BDS laws, the requirement is largely symbolic.

Trump reportedly lifted restrictions on disaster funds for states and cities boycotting Israel, but the revised DHS document keeps the vague term "discriminatory prohibited boycott," originally defined as boycotting Israel.

Major cities, including New York City, slated for $92.2 million in terrorism prevention funds, must comply to receive their share of $553.5 million allocated based on terrorism risk. The American Jewish Committee, through Huffnagle, supports this policy.

This move follows FEMA’s July directive requiring states to use terrorism prevention funds to aid migrant arrests, highlighting Trump’s strategy of leveraging federal funds to enforce political priorities at the state level.