The chareidi parties have already notified Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu they are adamantly opposed to his suggestion to open a casino in Eilat, casinos that would be exclusively for tourists, not Israelis. Shas has already announced “It will never happen”.
Shas’ statement reads “Casinos in Israel will serve the tycoons, owners of significant capital, and cause serious damage to the disadvantaged. Studies conducted worldwide have determined those affected by casinos are many who lost their property, causing the destruction of lower income families”.
The Shas statement adds “Shas represents the poor and weak in Israel and works to in their interests and therefore will object adamantly to the establishment of casinos in Israel. Casinos will lead to the destruction of families and harm those who don’t have anything”.
Joining in voicing objections to the initiative is Moshe Gafne of Yahadut Hatorah. He explains “We will object to this vehemently for we have always been against this and we remain opposed now. We are hearing of this today for the first time”.
Gafne adds “casinos lead to crime and unwanted phenomenon and everyone is aware of this. We have always objected and we remain vehemently opposed”.
The plan calls for casinos in Eilat for tourists and only persons with foreign passports would be permitted to enter. Opponents have already pointed out that among the many other issues, there is the simple fact that many Israelis have foreign passports as well so it will be close to impossible to prevent Israelis from visiting casinos.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Eilat is in chutz la’aretz, not in Eretz Yisroel. So who really cares.
It has nothing to do with E”Y boundaries, but Israeli society. Casinos destroy lower and middle class families and putting one in Eilat would definitely draw in Israelis that cannot afford to lose their money and yet cannot control their taava to gamble. You could argue that it is their choice but when dealing with such a taava it is questionable whether a person can even implement his free will.
When you enter and exit israel you must use an Israeli Passport if you have one, If an Israeli has a foreign passport, they could ask for the entry card as well so they can check if you are a tourist or a local. It is fairly easy to check this out