"Money laundering is a serious phenomenon 'with enormous destructive potential, especially economically and socially,' and 'it is what enables criminals to commit and even expand the range of offenses they take part in.'"
and the Criminal Appeal Authority 7135/10 Yigal Chen v. State of Israel (November 3, 2010):
"In view of the severe damage that tax delinquency has to the economy, to the economy, to a variety of social aspects relating to the burden of paying taxes, and even due to the great difficulty in exposing it, a harsh hand must be taken in dealing with these offenses and special weight must be given to the deterrent aspect of the offenders, within the framework of the punitive considerations... In offenses of this kind, excessive weight should be given to the considerations of deterrence over the personal considerations of the defendant
:
... There are those who are tempted to see tax offenses in which the individual thief is not in front of his eyes, and he is the entire public, the so-called "faceless" - with a lenient look. No, and no. On the contrary, this court, from time immemorial, viewed them harshly and determined 'as a desirable policy, not to allow the serving of a prison sentence with community service when it comes to fiscal offenses'... Indeed, many tax offenders are people who will appear to be fundamentally normative, who will not reach into the pocket of others - but who do not shy away from reaching into the public pocket. There is a price for this in punishment."
And also Criminal Appeal 8281/15 Zaid Gadir v. State of Israel (August 10, 2016):
"In offenses that involve defrauding the tax authorities..., a wide range of penalties can be indicated. At the same time, there is a clear trend of a worsening of the law of those criminals, who put their hands in the public coffers, and severely harm the principle of equality in bearing the tax burden, and indirectly also the social fabric in Israel."
- An examination of the punishment policy applicable to offenses for which the defendants were convicted shows that the range of punishment is wide and influenced by various parameters, including the number and frequency of the acts, the duration of the acts, the degree of planning, daring and sophistication, the execution of the acts together, the economic gain received or expected, the number of victims and the commission of related offenses.