Jerusalem
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Online travel reservation service Booking.com amended its definition of the city of Jerusalem as an “Israeli settlement” following a critical query from a Belgian Jewish newspaper, JTA reported Tuesday.

The Amsterdam-based company acted a day after Michael Freilich, editor in chief of the Joods Actueel newspaper in Antwerp, asked the firm about its characterization of the capital city, he said.

“I thought it was a hoax until I checked it out and saw it with my own eyes,” Freilich said of his verification of a tip by one of his readers.

Booking.com has not responded to Joods Actueel’s query, Freilich said, but fixed the subject of his query within a few hours of his sending the email. Jerusalem is now shown as being in Israel on Booking.com.

Most of the world’s countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, even with the U.S. recognition in December. However, Israeli sovereignty in the western part of the city is internationally recognized.

Founded in the Netherlands in 1996, Booking.com now offers more than 28 million reported listings in more than 138,000 destinations in 229 countries and territories worldwide. More than 1.5 million room nights are reserved daily on the platform, according to the firm.

Last year, Booking.com dropped from its website a Swiss establishment whose management put up signs singling out Jews and urging them to shower before entering the swimming pool.

The hotel’s manager later apologized for the sign, saying, “I have nothing against Jews, whom we regularly receive warmly here. I may have selected the wrong words; the signs should have been addressed to all the guests instead of Jewish ones.”

Switzerland denounced anti-Semitism following the incident.