Israel is set to launch a program to encourage foreign film productions

The government of Israel is set to launch a program to encourage foreign film productions to shoot in the country, Finance Minister, Avigdor Liberman, announced on Thursday. The plan will allocate NIS 45 million (more than US$14 million) for foreign television and movie productions in Israel in the next two years, and will be the latest in a series of schemes attempting to incentivize Hollywood to use Israel as a backdrop, The Times of Israel informed.

“The plan will constitute a significant step toward positive branding of Israel in the world as a center for filming international movies and television shows by using its natural resources and unique historical sites,”  Liberman assured. “The initiative is a cooperative effort by the culture, foreign, economy, tourism and finance industries,”  he added.

Such plans have been announced with much fanfare every few years since a 2008 law was passed offering tax benefits and other incentives to encourage filming in Israel. That law, however, required foreign producers to receive their returns through a local film company, a process that was deemed needlessly bureaucratic and impractical, and the financial incentives were still lower than those offered by other countries, The Times of Israel said.