Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

5 Killer Airbnb Spots — Only Drawback Is They’re in West Bank Settlements

Want to stay in a possibly dangerous and unauthorized Israeli settlement? Even if you don’t, you might accidentally.

Airbnb was by opponents of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank for listing homes there and not properly labeling them.

It turns out that those looking for a quiet neighborhood right outside either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem can come across a wide selection of listings in settlements.

Not only are these homes a little more affordable, but some of them fall right in line with those looking for something off the beaten track.

This house in Ma’ale Adumin comes with Wi-Fi, cable TV, and a panoramic view of the desert and the mountains.

Image by Airbnb

“Our house is located in nice and quiet neighborhood near Jerusalem. it has private entrance and lots of privacy,” writes host Mashiach.

A two-floor, two-bedroom apartment in the Israeli Settlement of Giv’at Zeev “surrounded by green” runs for $110 per night.

The pictures show a garden oasis unfortunately located in disputed land.

“Cozy” is usually a fancy word for cramped, but this two-bedroom, also in Giv’at Zeev, looks spacious, clean, and well decorated. The host does state that the house is in a settlement in the description, but that doesn’t stop it from being a popular locale.

Image by Airbnb

Isaac from Woodmere, New York wrote in his review, “I could not have asked for a better, stress-free stay. I would definitely book another trip with this host!”

Giv’at Zeet is rife with Israeli’s looking to rent out their homes. For $56 you can get a rooftop area with a view of the city that’s perfect for barbequing.

Image by Airbnb

Host Yaniv only has three house rules: to keep it clean, not smoke, and bring happiness inside.

For only $27 a night, you can stay in a small house in the middle of the Judean desert, also known as the settlement of Nokdim.

Image by Airbnb

Even if you don’t know it’s in a settlement, this home looks like it’s for the adventurous type.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version