Israel has since time immemorial taken a very strong stance towards banning online gambling – the activity is an anomaly of sorts in the country. While the country has embraced the high-tech industry in almost every other sector, it has opted to resist the prospect of online gaming liberalization which makes it impossible for its residents and citizens to enjoy legal and regulated online gaming services. Israel’s government has put in place some very stringent measures in a bid to rid the country of unauthorized gambling websites most of which primarily target Israeli players.
The current situation in Israel began way back in 2005 long before the launch and advancement of modern mobile casinos. During that year, the country’s Attorney General imposed several penalties against credit card companies that facilitated online gambling activities thus effectively crippling real money online gambling in the country. This was then followed by the massive crackdown of online poker sites in 2018 – this ended with Israeli courts putting in place a number of injunctions against multiple poker operators that were accused of unlawfully offering services to the country’s citizens. Shortly after this, the country passed a law that necessitated the immediate closure of all online gambling operations.
Renewed Hope
As bad as everything may be at the moment, some recent developments have hinted at the return of online gaming to the country. To go through, these new opportunities will have to be created despite the strong opposition by the government and the courts. First, there is the issue of Guatemala which is currently preparing to enter into a trade deal with Israel. As it turns out, the country ‘s legislators are drafting a bill that would effectively liberalize online gambling and a number of Israeli investors are reportedly planning to invest millions into the Guatemalan online gaming market once it goes live.
Guatemala aside, local gaming companies in India have been feeling the heat due to increased competition especially from Chinese operators. The question is whether this is enough reason for the liberalization of online gambling – the operators believe it is. Besides, the existence of an online gambling industry in Israel is expected to deter offshore gaming operators from targeting Israeli players. Furthermore, the industry will also bring in millions in tax revenue to the Israeli revenue.
A wave of European countries have been considering changing their laws in order to accommodate online gambling and it is becoming increasingly more appealing not just because of the tax revenue it has the potential of bringing but also because it will be a more effective way of regulating the industry since there is a huge possibility that Israeli citizens are still gambling at underground online sites.
