An Israeli bed and breakfast which was advertised on Airbnb. The company has since deactivated listings in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Photo / Getty Images
An Israeli bed and breakfast which was advertised on Airbnb. The company has since deactivated listings in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Photo / Getty Images
Airbnb has decided to remove accommodation listings in Israeli settlements located in disputed territories in the West Bank.
The move by the holiday rental site comes one day before Human Rights Watch said it was planning a 65-page report on the company's business there, AP reported.
"US law permits companies like Airbnb to engage in business in these territories," a press release from Airbnb read. "At the same time, many in the global community have stated that companies should not do business here because they believe companies should not profit on lands where people have been displaced."
Inbal Zeev, owner of 'Bikta Bakerem' bed and breakfast, which was advertised on Airbnb. Photo / Getty Images
The company said it had evaluated whether "the existence of listings is contributing to existing human suffering" and "potential safety risks for our hosts and guests," before deciding to remove the listings.
Such listings on Airbnb have attracted protest and been a subject of contention for years, as the Palestianian government denies Israelis the right to occupy property in the West Bank. Pro-Palestinian activists have disrupted Airbnb events in the past and protested outside the company's headquarters.
"When we applied our decision-making framework," the release read, "we concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians."
Houses in the Israeli Nofei Prat settlement, as seen from the balcony of a guest house in the West Bank. Photo / Getty Images
In response to the decision, Israel's tourism minister Yariv Levin instructed the ministry to restrict Airbnb's operations in the country, AP reported.
He also instructed the ministry to ramp up its tourism programs in West Bank settlements.
Igal Canaan opens the gate to his bed and breakfast 'Nof Canaan' which was advertised on Airbnb. Photo / Getty Images
Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan called on Airbnb hosts affected by the decision to file lawsuits against the company and told Haaretz he would check with US officials to see if the decision violated anti-boycott laws "that exist in over 25 states."
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which increases penalties for companies that boycott Israel, was passed by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs in June.
This year, an Israeli court ordered two New Zealand women to pay over $12,000 in damages for allegedly helping persuade the pop singer Lorde to cancel a performance in Israel. The suit was filed under a law that allows civil lawsuits against anyone who calls for a boycott against Israel.
Backdropped by a view of the Jewish settlement of Ofra and the Palestinian village of Silwad, Israeli Airbnb host Yoav Sorek walks through his guest house. Photo / Getty Images
In a statement to Buzzfeed News, a Human Rights Watch spokesperson said: "Airbnb's decision to end its listings in Israeli settlements is an important recognition that such listings can't square with its human rights responsibilities.
"For two years, Human Rights Watch has spoken with Airbnb about their brokering of rentals in West Bank settlements that are illegal under international humanitarian law and for which Palestinian ID holders are effectively barred from entering, and are issuing a report about this tomorrow. We urge other companies to follow suit."
