An Israeli online casino entrepreneur says he’ll donate $ 1 billion to help boost the Palestinian economy if talks between leaders of Palestine and Israel reach a lasting peace in the troubled region.

To start with Avi Shaked says he’ll give $100 million for the reconstruction of Palestine if both leaders, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sit down to begin peace talks.
The co-founder and major shareholder of online casino group 888.com believes that alleviating poverty in the Palestinian Authority may be the key to solving the crisis.

Predictably though the billionaire’s offer has been met with some resistance on both sides of the political divide and deep suspicion in some circles. An Israeli government official said “ With all respect, this is not something you do with millionaire's money .This is a government that answers to an electorate.'

The outspoken online tycoon said however that "We cannot continue suffering and it doesn't make sense that people on both sides will get killed - soldiers in Israel, kids in Palestine. The only way to put an end to this bloodshed is that the two leaders will sit down, reach an agreement and that will be the end of the conflict. It is so easy. Mr. Haniyeh has expressed that he might find the right way to sit down, sit down and we will invest money and after me there are other business people that are willing to do the same." he said.

Shaked ran for election this year for the Israeli Knesset. Now one of the richest men in the country he ran for the Labour Party calling himself the ‘millionaire socialist’. In September 2005 888.com were admitted to trading on the London stock exchange. Prior to the company’s flotation Avi and his brother Aaron owned approximately seventy percent of the parent company through family trusts.