Under new U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rules quietly issued this summer, states and cities must certify they do not boycott Israeli companies before receiving disaster aid.
Maxine Joselow reports for The New York Times.
In short:
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added an anti-boycott clause to all 2025 FEMA grant programs worth about $1.9 billion.
- No state, and only a handful of cities, currently restrict contracts with Israeli businesses; DHS says none have lost money so far.
- The requirement could complicate wildfire and hurricane preparations for places such as Richmond, California, which voted to divest from firms operating in Israel.
Why this matters:
Federal disaster assistance is becoming an ever larger lifeline as climate-fueled storms, floods, and fires chew through local budgets. Tying that money to foreign-policy litmus tests, even if only a handful of communities are affected, injects geopolitics into the nuts-and-bolts work of upgrading sirens, paying first responders and stockpiling water pumps. If a city’s ideological stance can stall rescue dollars today, future administrations could try using the same playbook on other hot-button issues, from reproductive health to fossil fuels. The precedent simultaneously tests free speech protections and the principle that aid should flow according to risk, not partisan loyalty.
Related: FEMA delays disaster aid to multiple states while Texas receives rapid approval
