A plan to launch the world's first "airborne casino" was approved this week by Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh. The proposed casino would be constructed on a converted Boeing 747 jet with a capacity of 230 passengers. The jet would takeoff from Ben-Gurion International Airport three times daily for a four-hour flight over the Mediterranean. While airborne and outside Israeli airspace, passengers would be able to gamble on roulette wheels and play the slot machines.

Sneh told Israel Radio that there was no real difference in the project from casinos that operate on boats that used to leave the port of Eilat for gambling in international waters.

According to reports on the project, first published by

"Granting approval should not be viewed as a legitimization of gambling" - Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh

Maariv yesterday, passengers would not have to pay for the short trip on the gambling plane. It is still unclear if gamblers would be permitted to take advantage of duty free shopping at the airport and be required to go through passport control.

Two Israeli businessmen, with no previous background in gambling, are initiating the project in coordination with a company from Iceland. An Iceleandic Air Atlanta jet is expected to land in Israel next month to be overhauled by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). The first gambling flight is tentatively scheduled for early 2003.

Sneh said he had no reason to reject the plan. "It will bring 250 million shekels of work to the IAI each year." According to media reports, the plane's operators would be required to deposit their income in Israeli banks and pay taxes to Israeli authorities.

"This will be the first time that a flying casino will operate on a continuous basis," said attorney Irit Lehem-Kipperman, who represents the project's organizers. The team already has plans of expanding the project to operate two planes. Future plans include adding additional planes worldwide.

"Granting approval should not be viewed as a legitimization of gambling," Sneh said. "The approval is only in regards to departure and landing at Ben-Gurion. What is done on the plane, outside of Israeli air space is not our business."

Casino plan draws strong opposition
The approval of the flying casino proposal drew strong criticism from anti-gambling advocates. Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein said, "The decision of the Transportation Ministry is questionable. Gambling is not legal in Israel. We use all means to prevent gambling and the accompanying criminal developments."

MK Shaul Yahalom (National Religious Party) said that his party vehemently opposed legalizing gambling. "The ruling is destructive to Israeli business and culture. Especially today, when the attention of Israelis has been turned to the devastating results of gambling culture, it is more and more clear that the discussion of legalizing gambling should be removed from the agenda."

MK Yossi Katz (Labor), Chairman of the Knesset committee, and 23 additional Knesset members this week submitted a request to allow the establishment of legal casinos in Israel, which would be operated by the state-run Mifal Hapayis lottery. Profits from the casinos would support nationwide improvement projects, the legislators suggested. Katz attacked Rubinstein and the government for not acting to shut down 150 illegal casinos operating throughout the nation, including the casino boat in Eilat.

In a letter to Sneh, Mifal Hapayis Chairman Avraham Katz-Oz, expressed his opposition to the plan, and urged him to reconsider. "Your regrettable decision only worsens the current situation and encourages the illegal gambling industry to find more creative ways to grow and develop. What is illegal on the ground continues to be illegal in the air. The Israeli government cannot give its approval to the operation of a casino," Katz-Oz wrote.

Illegal casinos in Israel reportedly have an annual turnover of some 6.5 billion shekels a year, Katz-Oz estimated, and profits support underworld efforts. An additional 2 billion shekels is spent by Israeli gamblers overseas, Maariv reported. Police officials told a Knesset committee yesterday that some 800 files are opened against gamblers and illegal gambling establishments every year.

Sneh told Israel Radio that many Israelis gambled and that it was preferable for Israel to allow places such as Mitzpe Ramon, Yeruham and Eilat to build casinos legally, with profits going to the state.

Despite the excitement following Sneh's approval, it could still take some time until the "airborne casino" takes to the skies. Yediot Aharonot reported today that contracts between the project organizers and the IAI have not been finalized. Air travel experts warned that the conversion of a plane into a flying casino would demand many technical changes with security ramifications. It is not clear how long it would take to receive security approval for the project.

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