Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov (Yesh Atid) on Monday evening wrote to the CEO of Booking.com, Glenn Fogel, following the company’s decision to place Jewish-owned accommodations in Judea and Samaria under a travel warning.
In his letter, the Minister of Tourism condemned the company's decision and stressed that this decision is wrong and does not do justice to the population of Judea and Samaria. "A decision like this could destabilize the region, which the government is working to preserve."
"I was surprised to hear about the company's intention. As the Minister of Tourism, and also as an Israeli citizen, I strongly condemn it. The labeling of the State of Israel as someone who violates rights is unacceptable and does not do justice to the residents of Judea and Samaria who live in coexistence, and whose source of livelihood relies on tourism. This a biased and scandalous decision that may create unnecessary tension and destabilize the region. I call on the company to retract this decision," wrote Razvozov.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that "Booking should be ashamed of its ignorance and hypocrisy. Judea and Samaria is the heart of our homeland, the heart of all of us, and you are in my heart, you are the activists who fight against this abysmal hypocrisy, kudos to you."
Booking.com stated, "Our mission at Booking.com is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. In accordance with this mission, we try to ensure that our customers have information in order to make decisions about destinations they are considering traveling to. Certain areas of the world affected by conflict may cause greater risk to travelers and therefore we provide our customers with information that helps them make decisions and encourage them to check their government's official travel guidelines as part of the decision-making process."