Trump Admin to Withhold Disaster Aid from Any State or City That Boycotts Israeli Products

The Trump administration announced Monday that it will cut off federal natural disaster preparation funding to any state or city that boycotts Israeli products.

According to Reuters, which quoted a statement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA):

States must certify that they will not cut off "commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies" to receive the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency according to the agency's terms for grantees.

The condition applies to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search and rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries, and backup power systems, among other expenses.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is an international attempt to use economic means—including refusing to support Israeli companies—to put pressure on the nation's government to stop human rights abuses toward Palestinians.

BDS has gained momentum in the wake of Israel's current genocidal onslaught against Gaza, which began in 2023. However, it long predates the most recent assault as a method of nonviolent resistance to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, which is recognized as illegal under international law.

It is not immediately clear which states would lose disaster funding under the new policy, since none actively boycott Israel. In fact, since 2015, 34 U.S. states have passed anti-BDS laws that take multiple different forms.

Many of these states require public employees and contractors to sign pledges that they will not boycott Israeli products during the term of their contract. Others steer state investments away from funds that do not invest in Israeli companies, stocks, or government bonds.

These laws have been frequently challenged in courts as violations of the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, assembly, association, and petition. Though some have been struck down in federal courts, the U.S. Supreme Court has continuously declined to rule on their legality.

Though no states actively boycott Israel, some U.S. city councils, including in Portland, Maine; Hamtramck, Michigan; and two California cities, Hayward and Richmond, have passed resolutions divesting from Israeli companies considered "complicit" in the country's attacks on Palestinian rights.

According to FEMA's new policy, these cities and others that may consider adopting similar policies may now lose out on federal funds to prepare for natural disasters.

Critics have noted the irony of the "America First" Trump administration jeopardizing the safety of American citizens on behalf of a foreign country.

Stephen Wertheim, a foreign policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment, described it as "the diametric opposite of America first."

Krystal Ball of the political talk show Breaking Points said, "denying American victims of natural disasters aid if they are insufficiently supportive of Israel" was "absolute insanity."

Gillian Branstetter, a communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—a leading opponent of anti-BDS laws—joked that the government's policy was now: "If you don't buy Sabra hummus, we will drown your family."