Trump began his second term by signing a staggering amount of executive orders, rescinding at least 78 of those signed into law by Biden. While many of the orders concerned the southern border (which can now officially be referred to as a crisis) and reversing the disastrous policies enforcing “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), several of the newly signed executive orders will help Israel in significant ways that will help undo some of the damage caused by the Democrats’ pro-Iranian regime policies.
One order, Executive Order 14115 issued on Feb. 1, 2024, by the former Biden administration, put sanctions on Jewish groups living in Judea and Samaria, describing them as “Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank.” The policy of sanctioning Jews in Judea and Samaria was premised on the claim of violence carried out by “settlers.” This claim flies in the face of contradictory data tracking violence and ignores Palestinian violence, much of it carried out by US-funded Palestinian Authority security forces.
Biden’s sanctions targeting Jews were challenged in court as some of the sanctioned individuals were US citizens. The plaintiffs argued that BIden’s actions violated their constitutional rights to free expression, freedom of religion, and due process. They also alleged the sanctions regime discriminates based on religion by primarily targeting Jews.
Trump also signed an executive order “reevaluating and realigning foreign aid.”
The order stated that “the United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values. They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”
Trump’s decision will result in a 90-day suspension of all foreign aid in order to conduct an “assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy.”
This order puts a hold on funding to the Palestinian Authority and Gaza. In November, the Biden administration moved to fund US-AID to the tune of $230 million. The Biden administration was sued as this funding violates the Taylor Force Act. Passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2017, the law cuts off U.S. economic aid that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority until they end violence against U.S. and Israeli citizens and end payments to terrorists and their families. The bill is named after a former U.S. Army officer, Taylor Force, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv.
The order will also pause US funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The United States has long been the most significant single donor to the UNRWA, giving more than $370 million annually. UNRWA has long had a policy of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic education for Palestinians and of having employees with connections to terrorist organizations. The organization plays a significant role in funding Hamas. In the wake of Oct. 7, it was revealed that many of its employees were members of Hamas and took part in the massacre of Israelis. Trump cut off funding to UNRWA in 2017 but Biden reinstated the funding in 2021.
Trump also canceled a Biden executive order signed three years ago, creating a “national emergency” relating to the International Criminal Court.
The court, which is based in The Hague and which is independent of the United Nations, has since sought arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. The warrants effectively bar Netanyahu and Gallant from entering the ICC’s 124 member states.
The charges against the two men allege that they committed the war crimes of directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza and of using starvation as a method of warfare by hindering the supply of international aid to Gaza. Chief prosecutor Karim Khan also alleged that they committed the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts as a result of the restrictions they allegedly placed on the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
By revoking Biden’s executive order, Trump restores an earlier order that rejected the court’s “illegitimate assertions of jurisdiction over personnel of the United States and certain of its allies” and sanctioned those connected to the court who asserted such jurisdiction.
Biden’s executive order overturned an executive order Trump issued against the ICC in 2020, blocking US property and assets of any official at the ICC who investigates US troops as the court examined alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan. Neither the US nor Israel are parties to the court, and they have argued that it has no jurisdiction to put them on trial.
Trump also signed an executive order enabling the deportation of foreign students and other non-citizens from the US for expressing support for organizations that the US government has designated as terrorist groups.
“To protect Americans, the United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests. More importantly, the United States must identify them before their admission or entry into the United States.”
“The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security,” the document stated.
While this executive order does not affect Israel, it will facilitate the deportation of foreign students participating in campus unrest and anti-Israel demonstrations who express solidarity with Hamas and Hezbollah, both organizations designated as terrorist groups by Washington, a policy Trump pledged to enact during his campaign.
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