Tourism minister Las Vegas bound

Israeli delegation to visit sin city in lead-up to establishment of country's first legal casino; anti-casino lobby head says casino would ruin thousands of families
By Itamar Eichner

Tourism Minister Abraham Hirchson is set to head a Finance and Tourism Ministries' delegation to Las Vegas in a bid to gain knowledge of the American model for the establishment of legal casinos.

The delegation is scheduled to meet with local casino industry heads, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and members of the Gambling Faculty at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

The trip is part of larger preparations being carried out by joint Finance, Justice and Tourism Ministry team before the actual approval of the proposed Casino Law.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the plan is to present the Casino Law for approval by year's end so that the bid for construction of a casino could be issued at the beginning of 2006.

A purely educational visit

"We want to educate ourselves on the social ramifications of having a casino," Hirchson told Yedioth Ahronoth.

"We want to know how a casino affects the city's communal life and how the police and other law enforcement authorities deal with the issue."

Head of the Knesset's anti-casino lobby Shaul Yahalom (National Religious Party) said Saturday the establishment of a casino in Israel would ruin thousands of families and would spur crime and corruption.

"The idea completely contradicts Israel's values as a Jewish state, and everything must be done so it would not be realized," he said.

The Tourism Ministry said in response a legal casino would help diminish the local illegal gambling phenomenon.