States and cities that boycott Israeli companies will be denied grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to grant notices posted by the agency in recent days.
The new eligibility criteria could restrict access to at least $1.9 billion earmarked for search-and-rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries and backup power systems used during blackouts, Reuters reported.
To be eligible for federal funds, the grant notices say that states and cities must follow the “terms and conditions” set forth by the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of FEMA. Since April, D.H.S. has prohibited grantees from “limiting commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies.”
The policy underscores how the Trump administration has linked its stance on Israel to unrelated federal funding, including billions of dollars in research grants for colleges and universities. But the move to restrict FEMA grants may be largely symbolic, because no states — and only a handful of cities — have enacted laws or policies that prohibit state agencies from doing business with Israeli firms.
Still, the policy could prevent wildfire response funding from flowing to cities like Richmond, Calif., where the city council voted last year to divest from companies doing business in Israel. It also comes as the Atlantic hurricane season heats up, with Tropical Storm Dexter forming in the western Atlantic late Sunday but not forecast to be a threat anywhere on the East Coast.
Representatives for D.H.S. and FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. After this article was published, Tricia McLaughlin, a D.H.S. spokeswoman, said the policy had not originated with FEMA and had not prevented any states from receiving grants.
“There is no FEMA requirement tied to Israel” and “no states have lost funding,” she wrote in an email. “FEMA grants remain governed by existing law and policy and not political litmus tests.”
Ms. McLaughlin added that “D.H.S. will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the B.D.S. movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism,” referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Backers of B.D.S. efforts call them a nonviolent way to pressure Israel over its treatment of Palestinians, while opponents call the concept antisemitic.
Maxine Joselow reports on climate policy for The Times.
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