Israel Considers Rapid Phase-Out Of 200-Shekel Banknote And Limits On Precious Metals To Combat Fraud

The following report is from Ynet News, first reported on September 20th, 2024:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed top officials on Thursday to urgently discuss the immediate discontinuation of the 200-shekel banknote, the highest denomination of Israeli currency.

The meeting, set to include Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Amir Yaron, Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Yossi Shelley and leaders from the Tax Authority and the Task Force for Combating Crime in the Arab Community, aims to address the elimination of the 200-shekel note as a measure to curb illicit cash flows.

A team of nine economists proposed a comprehensive plan to significantly intensify the fight against black market money, which they estimate could increase state tax revenues by 90-115 billion shekels ($24-31 billion) by 2030. The plan includes withdrawing the 200-shekel note within a short timeframe, allowing only a brief period for exchange. This is expected to hinder criminal organizations from disposing of millions of notes.

In the medium term, the plan calls for a drastic reduction in cash use, aiming to eliminate cash transactions altogether within a few years, with payments to be made exclusively through bank transfers or credit cards.

The initiative also includes a new “voluntary disclosure” campaign, which would allow tax evaders to avoid prosecution if they declare previously undeclared income. Additionally, the plan proposes lowering the threshold for transactions requiring pre-approval from the Tax Authority from 25,000 shekels ($6,750) to 5,000 shekels ($1,350), a move that has drawn criticism from business groups who argue it would burden the payment system.

The proposed measures are intended to compel tax evaders, including criminal elements, to either deposit or exchange their cash at banks, identifying the sources of the funds. Some may also be forced to admit to tax evasion and pay substantial taxes on previously unreported income under the voluntary disclosure program.

Similar steps have been implemented in other countries. In parts of China, the use of cash has been completely banned in certain cities.

The plan includes several additional measures:

• Expanding reporting obligations for citizens with income to the tax authorities.
• Launching a joint enforcement program involving all relevant agencies, including the Tax Authority, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, the police, the prosecutor’s office and the Counter-Terrorism Economic Warfare Headquarters.
• Utilizing artificial intelligence to identify tax evaders.
• Increasing oversight of non-bank financial entities, including currency exchange providers, which handle substantial amounts of black market money.
• Banning the holding of large amounts of cash alternatives, such as gold, silver, medals and coins.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

Israel, like the rest of the world, is racing towards implementing digital IDs, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and tokenization of all assets. In 2021, I reported on Israel’s growing development of its digital shekel. Governor Andrew Abir, Deputy of Bank of Israel said at the time there was roughly a “50% chance it would be ready in five years from the time he said that.

In 2022, Israel then began to ban large cash transactions of over $1,700 – a move that hardly received any attention.

Of course, we must understand that what Netanyahu and the Israeli government call the “black market money” is the ordinary economy that settles things primarily in cash, making it much harder to track where the money is going. What they, and other countries, are now calling “fraud” and “illicit activity” has been what conventional economies have done for millennia.

In my very detailed report on tokenization, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) – the central bank for central banks – General Manager Agustin Carstens said in a shocking statement in 2020:

We don’t know who’s using a $100 bill today and we don’t know who’s using a 1,000 peso bill today. The key difference with the CBDC is the central bank will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use of that expression of central bank liability, and also we will have the technology to enforce that.

So when governments and central banks bellyache about the “black market” and clamping down on so-called “fraud,” this is what they referring to: the inability to track and trace every cent that we spend and transact with.

Read more about it here: Tokenization: The New World Order Monetary System To Digitize All Assets And Nature, Including You

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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