Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely is asking the management of the popular vacation booking site TripAdvisor.com to change its location of hotels in Judea and Samaria in Area C to Israel, rather than the current designation of the Palestinian Territories.
Currently, anyone using TripAdvisor to look for hotels, country lodgings, or tourist sites in Judea and Samaria finds them listed as located in the Palestinian Authority, even though according to the Oslo Accords, Area C is under Israeli military and administrative control.
In a letter to TripAdvisor President and CEO Stephen Kaufer, Hotovely wrote that communities like Gush Etzion and Ariel fell under exclusive Israeli jurisdiction and that any other position on the issue was tantamount to adopting a political stance.
"There must be no politicization of sites in Judea and Samaria that fall under Israel control," Hotovely wrote.
In response to Hotovely's appeal, TripAdvisor said, "We do not define these areas as being under Palestinian control. Our policy about how we classify property or locations complies with international tourism industry standards."
