JERUSALEM (AP)--Israel has given the go-ahead for "flying casinos" - specially fitted planes that will give gamblers a four-hour spin in the air. In leaving Israeli air space, the planes will get around Israel's gambling ban.
The service is to be run by an airline from Iceland and there will be three flights a day starting in 2003, Israeli officials said Tuesday.
The project, a private initiative by Israeli investors and financiers from abroad, is expected to generate about $50 million a year in revenue for Israel, said Yerach Tal, adviser for Transport Minister Ephrahim Sneh.
Before the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000, many Israelis would gamble at a casino in the West Bank town of Jericho. Gambling boats in the Red Sea and casinos in nearby Turkey are also popular attractions.
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires)
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