Veteran Israeli actor sentenced to jail for tax evasion

The Tel Aviv District Court sentences veteran Israeli actor Dan Turgeman to 10 months in jail for tax evasion, accepting prosecutors’ appeal against an earlier, shorter sentence, but reducing by half the fine that the lower court issued him.

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court had sentenced Turgeman last year to nine months of community service and six months’ probation, and also hit him with a NIS 100,000 ($33,000) fine, after the actor and entrepreneur was convicted of failing to pay taxes on income of some NIS 3.6 million ($1.18 million) between the years 2008 and 2017.

ערעור המדינה התקבל, ודן תורג'מן ירצה 10 חודשי מאסר בפועל במקום עבודות שירותhttps://t.co/XhLY58Ojlc pic.twitter.com/16bnnWxhFv

— Globes גלובס (@globesnews) September 10, 2026

The lower court said it was giving a lenient sentence because of the time that passed since the crimes, and also criticized the prosecution for taking so long to file an indictment.

The District Court accepts prosecutors’ appeal, citing the legal precedent that deliberate tax evasion carries jail time. However, the court reduces the fine on Turgeman to NIS 50,000 ($16,500).

Turgeman, who starred in several Israeli soap operas in the early 2000s, is expected to begin his prison sentence in March.