(JTA) — Airbnb, which came under fire for its decision to delist rentals in West Bank Jewish settlements before rescinding the call, has launched a Hebrew-language website and app.
“The platform demonstrates commitment towards the international community by localizing the leading website and app,” the company said in a statement.
Last year, 22,000 homes in Israel were advertised on Airbnb, the Israeli business daily Globes reported. Meanwhile, more than half a million Israeli tourists ordered Airbnb rentals for nearly a million nights last year.
Italy, France, Spain, Greece and the United States were among the countries most in demand by Israelis who ordered Airbnb accommodations, according to Globes.
The company also launched an Arabic site.
“Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, and with this release, we enable more than 300 million Arabic- and Hebrew-speakers globally to belong on Airbnb,” Mati Bot, a software engineer at Airbnb, wrote last week prior to the launch.
Airbnb operates in 191 countries and regions and more than 81,000 cities.
