The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is reportedly threatening to withhold federal disaster funding to states and cities that are boycotting Israeli companies, according to a recent report.
FEMA explained in 11 grant notices posted on Friday that states would have to follow certain “terms and conditions,” certifying that they would not cut “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies,” to receive federal disaster funding, according to Reuters.
Per the outlet, FEMA’s “terms and conditions” affect roughly $1.9 billion that states rely on for things like search-and-rescue equipment:
The requirement 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, according to 11 agency grant notices reviewed by Reuters.
The requirement is the Trump administration’s latest effort to use federal funding to promote its views on Israel.
The Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees FEMA, in April said that boycotting Israel is prohibited for states and cities receiving its grant funds.
In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees FEMA, responded to a post from Axios that stated that states boycotting Israeli companies would lose federal disaster relief funds. DHS said that “there is NO FEMA requirement tied to Israel in any current NOFO.”
“There is NO FEMA requirement tied to Israel in any current NOFO,” DHS said. “No states have lost funding, and no new conditions have been imposed. FEMA grants remain governed by existing law and policy and not political litmus tests.”
A spokesperson for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told the outlet that DHS would “enforce all antidiscrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism.”
The New York Times noted that FEMA’s policy “could prevent wildfire response funding” from going to places such as Richmond, California, which “voted last year to divest from companies doing business in Israel.”
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