House to vote on anti-Israel Tlaib amendments to university donation disclosure bill
The amendments to the DETERRENT Act require reporting investments or donations from countries with cases before the ICJ, among other issues specific to Israel

Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, in front of Congress in Washington D.C., on May 8, 2024.
The House is set to vote on Thursday on a pair of amendments, introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), to a bill expanding requirements for universities to disclose foreign donations from U.S. adversaries. The amendments appear designed to target universities’ relationships with Israel.
The base legislation, known as the DETERRENT Act, has been backed by some Jewish community groups in response to concerns that Qatari, Iranian and other foreign donations are driving antisemitic and anti-Israel activity and attitudes on college campuses.
The bill lowers the threshold for countries to report foreign donations from $250,000 to $50,000, and requires them to disclose donations of any size from specific countries of concern.
Tlaib’s amendments seem designed to utilize the legislation to target Israel, introducing language that would require schools to report investments in any country defending a case before the International Court of Justice relating to accusations of war crimes or genocide, any country with any official facing an active arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court or any country that the secretary of state deems responsible for violations of international law and human rights.
The other Tlaib amendment would require schools to disclose any donations from countries facing similar criteria.
AIPAC is urging supporters to tell lawmakers to oppose the amendments, arguing that they place Israel in the same category as U.S. adversaries such as Iran, Russia, China and North Korea, based on the pretext of the controversial ICC and ICJ cases.
AIPAC said the amendments — which are almost certain to fail given likely opposition from both Republicans and some Democrats — would be “a victory for the discriminatory boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) campaign against the Jewish state.”
All Democrats on the House Education and Workforce Committee voted against the DETERRENT Act earlier this year, arguing that it would be both ineffective and needlessly burdensome, though 31 Democrats supported it on the House floor in the previous Congress.
Democrats are now also arguing that it’s hypocritical for Republicans to provide additional responsibilities to the Department of Education when the Trump administration is slashing its staff and attempting to eliminate the department entirely.
They’re also arguing that foreign gifts are not a top national security concern at the moment, in light of Cabinet officials sending sensitive information on attacks on the Houthis to a journalist in a Signal group chat.