BOCA RATON (970 WFLA) -- Governor Ron DeSantis singles out a major travel company, in Florida's war on the boycott divestiture sanctions movement targeting Israel. He's ordering state employees to stop using Airbnb, because of its policy agsinst listing certain Israeli-owned homes in the West Bank. DeSantis says any boycotts against Israel are inherently anti-Semitic, especially when many BDS supporters endorse trading with countries such as Iran with a record of human rights abuses.
"To me, when you apply a separate standard against the Jewish state, when you target Jews for disfavored treatment, that is the essence of anti-Semitism," DeSantis told a group at a Jewish community center in Boca Raton.
DeSantis says "BDS is DOA" in Florida. He's also urging the state pension fund to avoid investing in Airbnb if it goes public.
Airbnb responds in a statement that it doesn't support BDS, and that its decision not to list certain properties doesn't single out Israel. Airbnb says it has imposed similar bans in Crimea, and uses a case by case approach.
Photo: An AirBNB property near a Jewish settlement on the West Bank.
Photo Credit: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images