Minister of Tourism Avraham Hirchson: I’ll deal with the subject again after the elections.
Minister of Tourism Avraham Hirchson told the Knesset today that he would not promote the Eilat casino project at this time. He told the Knesset Economics Committee he would again deal with the subject after the elections, provided he was returned to the tourism portfolio.
Hirchson made the remarks during a meeting initiated by MK Shaul Yahalom (National Religious Party). Yahalom said the casino issue had created an unprecedented situation in which a minister was causing the government to carry out an illegal act, according to former Attorney General Elaykim Rubinstein, who is now a Supreme Court judge.
Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak-Halevy said that the phenomena Yahalom warned would result from a casino already existed.
The Israel Police told the Economics Committee that it neither supported nor opposed establishment of a casino. On the other hand, the Attorney General’s representative said the Attorney General’s Office opposed the casino as incompatible with the moral values of a Jewish state.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 30, 2005