The concept of gambling in Israel is very complicated. This was once a country where every form of gambling was prohibited by law with harsh punishments for violators. Over the last 10 years or so, there has been a systematic easing of the attitudes towards some forms of gambling.

The Legalities Associated With Gambling in Israel

To get things started under this topic, it must be clearly stated that all forms of casino gambling are strictly prohibited in Israel to this very day. The government has a very strict attitude towards its resident risking their money on pure “games of chance.” This includes both retail (land-based) and online casino gambling.

At the same time, the government is officially on the fence about any form of poker. In the past, it was always viewed as a casino game where the outcomes relied heavily on chance. Over the last five years, that attitude has been softening because key members of the judiciary have started adopting the view that poker involves both skill and chance. There could be a change coming.

That leaves lotteries and sports betting. The country does allow lotteries through the state-owned National Lottery (Mifal Hapayis) because the government benefits from lottery revenue. Yes, they recognize it as a game of chance, but their ability to control the lottery betting activities through the Israeli Ministry of Finance appeases the concerns of leaders.

Good news! Israelis are permitted to wager on sports through the state-sponsored Israeli Sports Betting Board, abbreviated as ISBB. Also, they are permitted to wager through offshore accounts but obligated to pay taxes on net winnings to the tune of 35%. Permission to wager online through offshore bookmakers was granted in 2017 by the Powers to Prevent the Commission of Offences by Means of an Internet Website Act 5767-2017.

Responsible Gambling Opportunities for Israelis

A responsible government will always promote responsible behavior among its residents. Being a conservative nation, Israel’s government does strongly advocate for the advancement of responsible gambling resources.

At this time Israel does not have its own self-exclusion program. They can only hope that Israeli sports bettors are able to qualify for the same protection as the residents in the countries in which Israelis are betting on sports.

Since the UK sports betting community gets a lot of traffic from Israeli sports bettors, the GamStop Self-exclusion program has always been a curiosity among the gambling community in Israel. Unfortunately, the program is only available online to UK residents. That being the case, Israeli gamblers are just as well off betting with several popular non-GamStop casino providers that gladly accept Israeli sports betting action.

Without having access to any meaningful self-exclusion options, Israeli gamblers bear the responsibility for dealing with their own problem gambling issues. How do they do that?

How Israeli Online Gamblers Deal With Self-exclusion

Without access to sponsored responsible gambling resources, Israeli online gamblers are called upon to implement their own protections. How do they do that?

Remember, self-exclusion programs are useful but not foolproof. Also, they aren’t accessible to just anyone. That leaves software blockers as the most prominent responsible gambling option for online gamblers in countries like Israel where few other options are available.

In Israel, the best and most available responsible gambling software blockers are BetBlocker and Gamban. For the most part, both products work in much the same way. However, there is a subtle difference between the two that is worthy of consideration. Here is how these software blockers work.

Both downloaded products are available to Israeli online gamblers for a subscription fee. After paying the fee and downloading one of the programs, the user will need to activate the program. Once the activation process has been completed, the user is effectively blocked from having access to any website that can be identified as a gambling website. That includes handicapping and gambling news sites.

Here is the primary difference between BetBlocker and Gamban. With BetBlocker, the user has access to a tool that allows them to set their self-exclusion period. Once that period expires, they are prompted to extend their self-exclusion, or they can say no freely resume their online gambling activities.

With Gamban, the block is permanent. It does not expire nor can it be removed from the applicable device. Once it’s downloaded and activated, the device will never again be able to access online gambling sites.

Are these programs effective? Both of these programs work very well for the online gambler who is willing to stay the course and not gamble online. The problem with these programs is they are device-specific. If the user of these products really wants to start gambling online again, all they have to do is buy or borrow other devices.

That is exactly why the online gambling community prefers to offer access to regulator-sponsored self-exclusion programs. These kinds of programs offer more protection because they are more restrictive and a little harder to bypass.