The Trump administration is walking back plans to withhold disaster aid from cities and states that are not friendly to Israel.
On Monday, Reuters reported that states and cities that boycott Israeli companies could be denied grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Under the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) FY 2025 Standard Terms and Conditions released in April, federal aid applicants are prohibited from engaging in "a discriminatory prohibited boycott," including "cutting commercial relations, or otherwise limiting commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies or with companies doing business in or with Israel."
DHS, which houses FEMA, removed language pertaining to Israel from its terms and conditions on Monday. A Reuters review of 11 agency grant notices estimated that the original language would have affected at least $1.9 billion in FEMA aid. The New York Times reports that policy could have prevented "wildfire response funding from flowing to cities like Richmond, Calif., where the city voted last year to divest from companies doing business in Israel."
