Israel’s anti-lottery crusader Moshe Kahlon has emerged victorious in his crackdown on state-sponsored gambling.
On New Year’s Eve, national lottery monopoly Mifal Hapayis shut down its 500 slot machines and 150 keno machines after it failed to negotiate with the treasury the renewal of its operating license, Haaretz reported.
According to the news outlet, officials from the finance ministry allowed to extend the national lottery’s license “for another 48 hours in order to wind up talks,” but on the condition that Mifal Hapayis would immediately switch off its slot and keno machines.
The national lottery wants the treasury to compensate the NIS800 million (USD208 million) it says it will lose annually without the gambling machines. Ministry officials, however, said the real figure should be below NIS250 million because the government is offering Mifal Hapayis the chance to conduct extra lotteries.
The lottery wants to add 14 more lotteries—to be held annually—to the two weekly draws it currently holds.
Shutting down the state-sponsored gambling machines is a victory for Kahlon, Israel’s finance minister, who predicted that come 2017, “there will not be a single gambling machine or any horse racing in Israel.”
“Eighteen months ago I said there would no longer be slot machines in Israel, and I am very happy that from today, there aren’t any anymore,” Kahlon said in a statement, according to Haaretz.
Kahlon also wanted to hike taxes on lottery winnings. At present, lottery winnings under NIS50,000 (USD13,000) aren’t subject to taxes but the finance minister sought to lower this threshold to just NIS5,000. Kahlon estimated that the new tax will add NIS200 million (USD52 million) to the state treasury.
The final terms of the agreement have yet to be reached, but Mifal Hapayis has already agreed to reduce its stake of 7.5 percent of earnings (about NIS750 million each year) to 7 percent, according to the news outlet.
