Israeli ministers have called for punishing vacation rental company Airbnb with high taxes and legal action over its decision to ban listings of properties located beyond the Green Line.
Airbnb announced on Monday that it would delist some 200 properties and would cease operating in Israeli settlements "that are at the core of the dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians."
"Many in the global community have stated that companies should not be doing business there [in the territories] because they believe companies should not profit on lands where people have been displaced," Airbnb said in a statement on its website.
The company said it had developed a framework for evaluating how it should treat listings in occupied territories around the world.
"Israel is a special place and our over 22,000 hosts are special people who have welcomed hundreds of thousands of guests to Israel. We understand that this is a hard and complicated issue and we appreciate everyone's perspective," Airbnb's Global Head of Policy and Communications Chris Lehane said.
The move is seen as yet another success by the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin called on Airbnb to reverse what he called a "discriminatory decision" and "disgraceful surrender" to the BDS movement, and said Israel would retaliate.
He said his office had reached out to the Finance Ministry with a request to impose a "special and high tax" on Airbnb's activities.
"If you have a policy of discrimination against Israelis you cannot earn money in Israel," he said.
He also said the government would encourage hosts in settlements, especially in Judea and Samaria, to sue the company "to make it pay" for its decision. Levin also said Israel would impose other restrictions on Airbnb's operations in the country, but he did not elaborate.
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan said Israel plans to consult with the United States over the decision.
"We will approach the U.S. government because 25 U.S. states have sanctions against American companies that boycott Israel," he said. "In this respect, there is no distinction between this part or that part of the State of Israel."
Airbnb's decision coincided with the publication of a Human Rights Watch report Tuesday investigating tourist rental listings in settlements by Airbnb and by the hotel booking platform Booking.com.
Titled "Bed-and-Breakfast on Stolen Land," the report says that Israeli settlements discriminate against Palestinians uniquely, which violates humanitarian law and Airbnb's nondiscrimination policy.
Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch's Israel-Palestine director, said that by threatening sanctions, Israel was prioritizing its support for settlements over a thriving tourism industry in Israel proper that relies on services such as Airbnb. If applied, the sanctions could affect lodging costs for thousands of tourists expected to arrive in Tel Aviv next year for the Eurovision song conwwww.
Shakir said the government's response "reflects the degree to which the government is willing to go, putting the whole country's interests at stake over its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank."
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat called Airbnb's decision an "initial positive step," and urged the company to extend its decision to Israeli listings in east Jerusalem. The BDS movement echoed that sentiment in a statement on its website.
For settler hosts, who see their homes as an integral part of Israel, the decision triggered outrage and confusion.
Oded Revivi, head of the Samaria community of Efrat, said Airbnb had violated its own stated mission "to bring people together in as many places as possible around the world."
