Casino Investors Offer to Fund Israel Railway Project

Ynet reports that a group of foreign investors from the gambling industry has made a lucrative offer to the Israeli Ministry of Transportation.

The investors, who are from the US and Europe, have proposed to pay for the building of a railway line that would link the cities of Be’er Sheva and Eilat. They would also help to upgrade the Ilan and Asaf Ramon Timna Airport.

The catch is that they want Israel to legalize casinos. Specifically, they want to open a casino in Eilat, a popular tourist destination in the south of the country.

This offer coincides with one of the promises that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made when he came to power: to build a railway connecting Be’er Sheva and Eilat. However, this project was not included in the current government budget.

The possibility of opening casinos in Eilat and other Israeli cities has been on the table for a long time. For instance, back in 2008, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and the Land Authority agreed to set aside a piece of land on the northern shore of the Gulf of Eilat for the first legal casino in Israel. But the plans never materialized.