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DHS scrambles to fix MAGA rage over threat to withhold disaster funds to states that won’t do business with Israel

Outrage from the president’s supporters over an Israel-related catch connected to disaster relief was met with a formal revision from the Department of Homeland Security.

After proving a sticking point for leftists in the 2024 election cycle, it appears that the United States’ relationship with Israel is also making waves across the political aisle. Specifically, since-removed language from DHS has been met with MAGA outrage and accusations that President Donald Trump has “fully betrayed America” after allocation of disaster relief was made conditional pertaining to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

Initially reported by Reuters Monday, the FY 2025 DHS Standard Terms and Conditions posted in April included language that read in part, “Discriminatory prohibited boycott means refusing to deal, cutting commercial relations, or otherwise limiting commercials relations specifically with Israeli companies or with companies doing business in or with Israel or authorized by, licensed by, or organized under the laws of Israel to do business.”

Outspoken critics of the Jewish State and its tight-knit relationship with the United States, and even those simply concerned about conditional relief for American citizens, expressed outrage and confusion over the report.

This included commentator Candace Owens, who brought up wealthy Republican donor Miriam Adelson when she posted, “Denying Americans who won’t support the genocide being conducted by your friends. Trump has fully betrayed America for Netanyahu and if you cannot see that now you are completely blind. Best 100 million Miriam Adelson ever spent.”

Following the outrage, DHS released a statement that quickly received the community notes treatment.

“There is NO FEMA requirement tied to Israel in any current NOFO. No states have lost funding, and no new conditions have been imposed,” stated the department’s X account. “FEMA grants remain governed by existing law and policy and not political litmus tests. DHS will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism. Those who engage in racial discrimination should not receive a single dollar of federal funding.”

Context added by X users argued that the post was “misleading” as the terms and conditions were updated to remove the questionable language after the outcry, a point journalist Saagar Enjeti called out.

“Ok after speaking [with] folks here’s what’s going on,” he captioned the DHS post. “An original guidance from DHS explicitly stated that federal disaster funding was barred from states that allowed boycott of Israel. The [White House] changed this explicit language after widespread outcry BUT the DHS tweet makes it clear the admin reserves the right to deny these funds on BDS grounds based on the Anti-Boycott Act … They still might do it. They’re just not saying it out loud right now.”

Earlier this year, similar backlash led to the withdrawal of a bipartisan proposal aimed at expanding the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 to prohibit Americans and American businesses from joining boycotts organized by global organizations against allies of the United States, including Israel.

As for the president’s stance, Trump responded to criticism in June that America’s support for Israel was “an anathema to the ‘America First’ way of doing things,” by saying, “Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides that.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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