It’s not necessarily a hoax story.
The Israeli claims he provided what he was asked to provide in the past. It’s entirely possible that the Avis locations he rented from before never asked for a passport or international license. Either because they weren’t aware of/weren’t following the policy or because the policy changed.
So the guy shows up and gets asked for additional documentation that he wasn’t asked for before. He assumes it’s because he’s Israeli, and pitches a fit. Which given the whole BDS thing, which hes most certainly aware of as a pharm exec, is understandable. The location management sticks to policy, and their leadership backs them up.
IOW both sides probably have a point here.
Their company wording of “may”, may be problematic. Perhaps they should replace their wording with REQUIRED.