On Sunday, the Israeli government had given approval to almost doubling of the profit tax on gas and oil explored from its territory, a move of considerable importance in a time of recent offshore gas discoveries expected to be worth tens of billions of dollars.

The cabinet voted tremendously and accepted the recommendations of a government committee to tax energy profits between fifty two and sixty two percent and to keep aside a special fund from the income which can be extended in case of public needs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the cabinet meeting that he has intentions of establishing a fund for Israel's future that will be used for education and security. Parliamentary approval is almost assured, but priorities of the new fund will be questioned countrywide which can be said without a speck of doubt.

In the past few years, about twenty five trillion cubic feet of natural gas have been extracted off Israel's northern shore, which was enough to transform the nation from a vulnerable energy importer into a solid exporter. In recent weeks, exploration companies have announced a twenty percent likelihood of there being four billion barrels of oil under the gas, which could prove still more important.

The firms alongside of some conservative political forces have battled hard against any hike in the profit tax, stating that the cost of exploration is so high that the rate will jeopardize the viability of the project.

But one of the Hebrew University economists named Eytan Sheshinski, who was the head of the government committee that recommended the increase, stated that the new rate was slightly below the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of more than thirty countries that Israel recently joined.