Israel blocks first egaming sites

An Israeli court has issued an injunction ordering local internet service providers to block three operator sites not authorised in Israel.

Sites belonging to p2vbet.com, 1xbet.com, and totobet777.com were ordered by Tel Aviv district court judge Zion Kapah to be blocked following a request from the state prosecutors’ office and the Israeli police economic crimes unit.

According to reports in the Israeli press, the injunction is part of a wider clampdown on online gambling, under new laws which allow authorities to issue injunctions requiring internet service providers to restrict access to sites involved in crime, child pornography or terrorism-related content.

No specific reason for the injunction was given by Judge Kapah.

In a statement, Israel’s ministry of finance said: “Within the focus of the Israel Police’s effort to deal with severe economic crime in the area of gambling organization and management, the Unit for Combating Economic Crime in Lahav 433 has been working to expose sites that operate gambling in order to allow them to be closed.”

Dr. Haim Wismonsky, director of the cyber department at the Israeli states attorney’s office, said: “The State Prosecutor’s Office intends to continue using existing remedies under this law, as part of the State Prosecutor’s Office’s approach to combating cybercrime.”

Wismonsky added: “According to this approach, it is necessary to act in a combined manner, both toward Internet-based transfers and with the transfers themselves, when it is not possible to expose and prosecute the perpetrators of transfers.”

Under current Israeli gaming law, no specific licensing or regulatory regimes exist for online gambling, however many district court justices have interpreted the new laws as allowing them to shut down access to any sites deemed to be improper.

Punters in Israel are currently limited to products offered by the state monopoly lottery operator Mifal Hapayis and the Israeli Sports Betting board.