FLORIDA — Gov. Ron DeSantis put travel booking company Airbnb on notice Tuesday for its policy on the Middle East's West Bank, alleging the policy unfairly targets Israel.
- Policy does not allow listings in disputed territory
- Company says policy affects about 200 people
- DeSantis to examine if policy violates Florida law
Since November, Airbnb policy is to not allow listings in the disputed region. The company said that policy affects about 200 people who want to rent their properties in the West Bank.
"This policy only affects Jews that have property in the West Bank,” said Desantis to a crowd at the Palm Beach Jewish Federation Tuesday. “It doesn't appear to affect anybody else on the face of the earth."
The governor said his team will take a look at the Airbnb policy to see if it violates a Florida law passed last year, which prohibits boycotting or divesting in Israel.
On Airbnb’s website, the explanation for the policy reads "Airbnb is not boycotting Israel. Airbnb does not support the BDS movement, any boycott of Israel, or any boycott of Israeli companies."
Financial ramifications
If the state finds Airbnb is violating that law, state and local governments would not be able to enter into or renew any deals with Airbnb. Some legislative experts say that may include taxing agreements the company has reached with counties so they may operate there.
It also means the state cannot invest in Airbnb stock for its funds should the company go public. The company is considering making a public debut this year, and the loss of any Florida investment could hurt the company’s success.
In 2017, the most recent data available, Airbnb collected $45.7 million in tax revenue and turned it over to Florida and its local governments.
Airbnb says over 4.5 million people used the app to find rentals in Florida, with 45,000 hosts across the state.
To learn more about what the DeSantis administration has already done in response to AirBnB's policy regarding the West Bank, watch the video above.