Israel has long been the epicenter of online casino operators and online gaming businesses since the dawn of the online casino industry.  These days, internet betting is booming in Israel, and authorities are beginning to fear that it is getting out of hand.

The concerns are those that any governmental body has to some extent, including problem gamblers, underage gamblers, money laundering and an imbalanced economy.  And although these issues can be properly addressed and prevented, Israel is fearing that these side effects of legalized gambling have gotten out of control.

As a result of this growing trend, a meeting was recently held between the Chief Justice and the Head of Intelligence in Israel's police force.  It was reported the meeting concluded that a heavy crackdown on illegal online gambling was in order.  The first steps to implement such a measure are actually the same as what the U.S. government did when it stepped up its enforcement of anti-gambling laws.

Online gamblers may remember that U.S. credit card companies were first hit and ordered to not payout transactions made at online casinos.  This was followed by an end to online gambling advertising, in which several large search engines pulled ads for online casinos and any internet betting site that processed real money wagers.

Now, Israel is planning to do the same, with their first goal to put an end to the extensive and pervasive advertising of online gambling sites.  But just as the demand for online gambling has far exceeded the governments reach in the U.S., it looks as if the citizens of Israel will have the final say on this one.

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