US health agency to withhold funds to colleges boycotting Israel

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, announced that it will pull medical research funding from universities with diversity and inclusion programmes and any boycotts of Israeli companies.

In a policy note issued on Monday, the NIH said it “reserves the right to terminate financial assistance awards and recover all funds” if grant recipients do not comply with federal guidelines barring diversity and equity research and “prohibited boycotts."

The policy applies "to domestic recipients of new, renewal, supplement, or continuation awards that are issued on or after the date" and universities interested in receiving grants will also be required to eliminate diversity and inclusion programs, the note said.

The directive came after the funding freeze the Trump administration placed on Harvard and Columbia universities.