Israeli Authorities Tackle Online Casino Firm
24 Dec 2006
The Israeli online casino industry is having a hard time with Israel's authorities. The Israeli police, backed by the attorney general have decided to crack down an online casino operation that offers online backgammon playing for real money. The authorities are claiming that by offering online casino playing for the Israeli market, the company is breaking the law, and that all gambling actions must cease. Gambling is allowed in Israel, as long as it is not for real money. If the company offered backgammon playing at the online casino without taking real bets, then the operation was considered as legal, the Israeli authorities claimed.
However, the online casino operator claims that everything meets the Israeli law, and that its online casino site is perfectly legal. Backgammon -the gambling operator claims- is not a game of chance, and therefore does not meet the definition of 'gambling'. This resembles some of the claims that American online casino operators are saying in regard to online poker. If the game is a game of skill, then it is not really gambling, and the law does not apply. It seems that the legal situation in Israel regarding online gambling is far from clear.
The state lottery, which donates its profits to the community, also cannot operate an online casino because internet gambling is forbidden. Although, the economic department of the attorney general's office have previously workout some drafts regarding the issue, there has yet to a court's ruling in the matter. Online casino gambling continues to stay on the border of the Israeli legislation, and a clear solution cannot be seen in the horizon.
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