Gas prices set to spike past NIS 7 per liter

Gas prices are set to rise again Saturday night and surpass NIS 7 per liter ($8 a gallon), just two weeks after they fell following a decision by Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman to have the state forgo half a shekel of taxes per liter.

Prices will increase at midnight Saturday/Sunday by 12 agorot per liter (approximately $0.04).

Six agorot of the increase is due to the fact that the excise tax is linked to inflation and adjusted every four months, Channel 12 news said. The remainder is due to the dollar-shekel exchange rate.

Since the recent 50 agorot tax cut, Israelis have paid NIS 6.94 per liter ($2.09).

Announcing the decision to reduce the tariff earlier this month, Liberman attributed it to an increase in state revenues in the last quarter as well as recent economic growth.

Liberman’s announcement came amid rising prices, with inflation going up and the costs of some products additionally increasing due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this year, thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv against the rising cost of living. In December 2021, the Economist ranked Tel Aviv the world’s most expensive city, citing the strength of the shekel and increased costs of food and transportation.

The government has announced an NIS 4.4 billion ($1.4 billion) plan to address the rising cost of living, but many of those tax breaks have not yet come into effect.