From the December 1, 2005 edition of the Jerusalem Post:

Eilat slams freezing of casino legislation

• By TOVAH LAZAROFF

Over the protest of Eilat hotel owners, the Knesset Economics Committee on Wednesday froze its pending legislation regarding the legalization of casinos.

Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson (Kadima) said it was proper to halt work on the issue in light of the upcoming elections.

Why ask legislators to draft a law that a new government might oppose? he asked. Even though Hirchson himself supports the move, he said it was “not proper to push ahead on it now.”

Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevy and director general of the hotels’ unions in Eilat Shabtai Shai protested the move. Shai said the hotels need the casinos or they will not be competitive with other international vacation spots.

A representative from the Finance Ministry said that a number of casinos already operate illegally and failure to legalize casinos results in an economic loss for the state since it cannot tax the money used in them.

But MK Shaul Yahalom (NRP) said that legalizing casinos was no different than legalizing prostitution. It harms the moral fabric of the society and increases crime, Yahalom said.

© 2005 The Jerusalem Post, All Rights Reserved

--

Ok I would like to make a few points here.

First, I agree with the Mayor of Eilat that Israel does need to legalize gambling to compete with other International vacation spots.

Second, I strongly believe that legalized gambling would be an asset for the State of Israel because it would bring more tourists who will not only gambling but spend their monies elsewhere during their trip and put millions of Shekels from income tax into the state's coffers.

Third, I disagree with Mr. Yahalom that legalized gambling is no different then prostitution, Gambling is nothing like prostitution and even if it were if you were to regulate it in a manner such as they do in Nevada or even in Amsterdamn I seriously doubt that the moral fiber of society would be harmed and that it would bring in more crime. I would like to point out that legalized prostitution and even gambling are now operated by legitimate corporations and the days of mobsters occupying the gambling halls and whore houses is over.

Finally, and most importantly it means more chips for my collection.

== Rick Schwarz R-5723 ==