In 1998, the Oasis Casino opened in Jericho, in the Palestinian West Bank. At the time the casino employed about 1,000 people and serviced mostly Israelis.
After the start of the Second Intifada in the fall of 2000, the casino shut down. But talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel has renewed interest in reopening the casino, next to the Hotel Oasis. A local TV station reported that Israeli security had discussed whether to permit Israelis to travel to the casino again, according to the Jerusalem Post. At this point, the answer is no.
Still, continued dialogue from both sides could reach a different conclusion in the future.
When it opened in 1998, Oasis Casino was one of the largest investment projects in the West Bank after the Oslo Accords were signed five years earlier. The Palestinian Authority argued on behalf of the project that only
Israelis would be permitted to gamble.
