The Trump administration is once again pressuring anti-Israel actors, this time by denying federal funds for disaster relief.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, updated its terms and conditions Friday such that any city found to be boycotting Israel will be denied disaster relief funds. If a city is found to have cut or limited its “commercial relations” with Israel, the city will be ineligible for a portion of the $1.9 billion in federal grants covered by the updated terms.
‘Even worse about this Trump policy … is it only applies to Israel.’
Although DHS categorized this provision as part of its anti-discrimination policy, critics have called the policy “insane,” pointing to the fact that it applies only to Israel and not other foreign countries.
“The Trump admin decision to withhold disaster relief funds is even more insane than I thought,” “Breaking Points” co-host Saagar Enjeti said in a post on X.
“Even worse about this Trump policy — that bans disaster relief funds to any American state or city boycotting Israel — is it only applies to Israel,” Glenn Greenwald said in a post on X. “They can boycott France, or Peru, or UAE, or South Korea, or even other American states and get funds: Just can’t boycott Israel.”
Israel’s relationship with the United States has prompted some Republican lawmakers and even Trump allies to become increasingly skeptical. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia became the first GOP lawmaker to call the war in Gaza a “genocide,” and public sentiment is beginning to shift.
Support for Israel hit a record-breaking low of 46%, which is the lowest recorded sentiment in 25 years that Gallup has been surveying on the issue. The previous lowest point was 51% support for Israel, which was recorded in 2024 and in 2001.
Despite the slipping support and outrage from certain Republicans, a spokesman for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Reuters that the policy is meant to enforce antidiscrimination efforts.
“DHS will enforce all antidiscrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in anti-Semitism.”
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