Israel Paves Way for Legal Sports Betting

Israel's parliamentary finance committee gave the green light on Tuesday for foreign operators to facilitate betting on horse races staged abroad, paving the way for the ultimate legalization for other types of sports betting.

'Important Step for Israel'

The approval, which Sports Minister Limor Livnat called "an important step for advancing comprehensive reforms in Israeli sport," marks the first time in a decade that the committee has allowed changes to be made to the existing types of betting that are currently permitted.

Livnat, who has been pushing this issue for quite some time, said, "The significant increase in financial resources that will flow through to sport, will allow unprecedented investment in sports facilities, mainly for children, and increased support for sporting bodies and for our highest-achieving athletes."

Sports Betting in the Holy Land?

The proposal must still go through the necessary parliamentary channels before becoming law, but it nonetheless represents a significant step in the fight to regulating betting in a country that has among the strictest gambling laws from amongst the developed economies.

The question now is whether Israeli politicians will follow the lead of many European nations by opening up the local market to other forms of gambling, such as sports betting.