Registry · ABNB

Does Airbnb support Israel?

Airbnb, Inc.

Business presence documentedupdated 2026-09-26

Airbnb does business in Israel — we found records of its operations there, but no record of donations, aid, or a public statement of support. Every claim below links to its source.

Filed under: Hotels & travel companies · Tech companies · Companies that support Israel

Background

Airbnb is a famous nuanced case that went in both directions. On 19 November 2018 it announced it would remove about 200 listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying companies 'should not profit on lands where people have been displaced.' Human-rights groups welcomed the move; Israeli officials condemned it as discriminatory, Texas placed Airbnb on its anti-Israel-boycott blacklist, and settlement hosts sued in US federal court under the Fair Housing Act, and on 22 November 2018 a settlement host filed a class-action request against the company in the Jerusalem District Court. Israel's pressure was concrete: Tourism Minister Yariv Levin ordered his ministry to prepare immediate steps to restrict Airbnb's activity across the country, and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked asked Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to consider indicting the company under Israel's law prohibiting discrimination in products, services and entry to public places. On 17 December 2018, after Levin met an Airbnb delegation led by vice-president Chris Lehane in Jerusalem, the company's representatives in Israel said the removal would not be implemented — but Airbnb's global headquarters said shortly afterwards that this was “not accurate”, while adding that the company rejected the BDS movement's boycott calls and was “developing tools to implement the policy”. On 9 April 2019, in a settlement of those lawsuits, Airbnb reversed course: the removal was never implemented, West Bank settlement listings stayed on the platform, and the company pledged to take no profit from West Bank host activity — donating those profits to humanitarian-aid nonprofits. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International criticized the reversal, arguing that continuing to do business in settlements keeps the company complicit regardless of where the profits go. Airbnb has appeared in every edition of the UN OHCHR settlement-business database (2020, 2023, September 2025), and a Guardian analysis found roughly 350 Airbnb settlement listings still live as of August 2024. Airbnb also operates normally across Israel itself. There is no record of Airbnb corporate donations to the Israeli state or military.

Time Human Rights Watch Al Jazeera (November 2018 announcement) France 24 (April 2019 reversal) Texas Comptroller (2019 statement on Airbnb listing decision) ynet (17 December 2018, Hebrew) ynet (22 November 2018, Hebrew)

Timeline of documented records

20192020202120222023202420252019-04 — Operations in Israel: Hosts in Israeli settlements in the occupied West BankOperations in Israel2019-042019-10 — Operations in Israel: Hosts in Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan HeightsOperations in Israel2019-102020-02 — Operations in Israel: Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank (UN-documented business activity)Operations in Israel2020-022025-02 — Operations in Israel: Hosts in Israeli settlements in the occupied West BankOperations in Israel2025-02

Documented records

TypeDateAmountRecipientSources
Operations in Israel2019-04-09—Hosts in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank
Airbnb reversed its November 2018 decision to remove about 200 listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. As part of a settlement of lawsuits brought by settlement hosts and would-be guests, the removal was never implemented: listings throughout the West Bank remain on the platform, and Airbnb pledged to take no profit from West Bank host activity, donating those profits to nonprofit humanitarian-aid organizations serving people in different parts of the world.
Operations in Israel2020-02—Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank (UN-documented business activity)
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) report to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/60/19 (26 September 2025), lists Airbnb Inc. in Annex I among the business enterprises OHCHR found reasonable grounds to believe are involved in a 'listed activity' under paragraph 96 of the UN fact-finding mission's report: specifically activity (e), 'the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport', for the assessment period 2 August 2019 to 30 April 2025. Airbnb was first named when the database was published in February 2020 and has remained listed through the 2023 update and the September 2025 update (158 companies), alongside Booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor.
Operations in Israel2025-02—Hosts in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank
Settlement listings continue: a Guardian analysis (data as of 30 August 2024, published February 2025) identified roughly 350 Airbnb listings — 321 houses, apartments or rooms, including 18 in unauthorized outposts — in Israeli settlements across the West Bank including East Jerusalem, able to host more than 2,000 people. In October 2025 a French rights group filed a criminal complaint against Airbnb and Booking.com over the settlement listings.
Operations in Israel2019-10—Hosts in Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights
Who Profits, an Israeli advocacy research centre that tracks companies operating in the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, documented Airbnb listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights in its October 2019 report 'Profiting through Dispossession: Another Side of Airbnb's Complicity' and its company profile on Airbnb (information there stated as valid to 5 February 2024): 15 Golan settlements, including Katzrin, Merom Golan and Ein Zivan, alongside listings in 39 West Bank settlements and 6 East Jerusalem settlement neighborhoods. Who Profits states the Golan listings, like the West Bank ones, were mislabeled on the platform as being in 'Israel'. The occupied Syrian Golan falls outside the scope of the UN OHCHR settlement-business database, which by its mandate covers only the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Frequently asked questions

Did Airbnb donate money to Israel or Israeli causes?

We have no records of donations. What is on record is commercial activity in Israel (Operations in Israel), which is not the same as support — see the records on this page.

Where does this information come from?

Every record on this page links to its source — news reports, official company statements, tax filings, or government records. 20 distinct sources are cited for Airbnb. Our methodology page explains the full verification process.

Sources & citations

Record last updated: 2026-09-26

More companies