BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The fall-out from an Airbnb decision earlier this month to remove about 200 of its listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank is still being felt in Florida.
Rep. Randy Fine (R) of Brevard County said the decision could put Airbnb at odds with a Florida law he drafted.
“Airbnb has chosen to boycott Jewish listings in a portion of Israel and under the law of the state of Florida, companies that engage in the anti-Semite BDS movement get boycotted by the state of Florida,” said Fine.
Florida’s anti-Boycott, Divest and Sanctions law prevents the state from investing in or doing business with companies participating in boycotts of Israel.
In a written statement, Airbnb said, "Major US-based multi-national hotels do not offer accommodations in these settlements, and under our policy, listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank will no longer be active. This policy is not based on any characteristic of the host and applies to all listings in these areas."
The company continues to share listings in other parts of Israel.
“Look, anti-Semites always have a good reason for why they're being anti-Semitic,” said Fine.
Fine said research is being done to determine if Airbnb has run afoul of Florida law and he's deferring to Governor-elect Ron DeSantis to lead that charge.
Last year, Airbnb collected and paid out over $45.7 million in tax revenue to the state of Florida and local governments on behalf of its hosts.
“Airbnb does not provide a service that other companies could not provide as well,” Fine said.
In the past Airbnb has removed users who were trying to book venues for an alt-right event.
The DeSantis transition said that DeSantis is “..committed to ensuring companies doing business in Florida are not discriminating against Israel, or violating Florida's anti-BDS law.”
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