According to the Israeli news site Walla, the US State Department has reinstated a ban on US government research funding going to support research projects conducted in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The decision is a significant reversal of a former US President Donald Trump-era policy, instituted in 2020, which had allowed research funding in the West Bank.
Walla claims that the Israeli government was informed of the decision two weeks ago but it did not become public until Sunday. However, Walla has alleged that the decision was made two years ago, but had not been enforced until Israeli officials were informed.
The ban will mainly impact three organizations: the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD), the Binational Science Foundation (BSF) and the Binational Agricultural Research and Development Foundation (BARD). These organizations had previously conducted research in partnership with Ariel University, in the West Bank. These three foundations were formed in the 1970s to facilitate scientific research cooperation between the US and Israel.
In a press conference, Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen stated, “I object to the decision and think it is wrong. In similar cases in the past, the Israeli government fully reimbursed parties damaged by such decisions.” US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has also condemned the decision, saying, “Joe Biden and Biden administration officials are pathologically obsessed with undermining Israel. Since day one of their administration they have launched campaigns against our Israeli allies that are granular, whole of government, and done in secret.” Cruz went on to call the move “antisemitic discrimination.”
The US State Department has yet to officially comment on the reports as of writing, however, an anonymous official with the State Department told Axios:
This guidance is simply reflective of the longstanding U.S. position … that the ultimate disposition of the geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after June 5, 1967 is a final status matter and that we are working towards a negotiated two-state solution in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state
The reports come shortly after Israel announced new plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, despite international pressure. The committee that approves expansion plans is expected to vote on the proposal Monday. There has been a sharp increase in violence in the West Bank, with a June 20 attack, committed by Hamas, killing four Israeli civilians in the area and Israeli security forces raiding a refugee camp, killing seven Palestinians and injuring 91.
Federal Housing Administration created
On June 27, 1934, the National Housing Act created the Federal Housing Administration (now part of HUD), which put the power of the federal government behind home financing, helping to make home ownership a reality for tens of millions of Americans and powering the residential real estate industry.
ICJ decides LaGrand Case, Germany v. U.S.
On June 27, 2001, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in the LaGrand case that foreign-nationals must be informed of their right to contact the embassy of their home country after arrest. Brothers Karl and Walter LaGrand were arrested in 1982 for murder and armed robbery in Arizona. However, authorities did not inform the men of their right to assistance from the German consulate under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 upheld the convictions in Germany v. U.S. Germany then brought the issue before the ICJ, which issued a provisional order to stay the executions. Arizona nonetheless executed the LaGrand brothers in 1999. Two years later, the ICJ held that the U.S. had violated both the provisional order and the Vienna Convention.