Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich agreed to cut gasoline prices by 50 agorot per liter beginning at midnight between Sunday and Monday.
The order reducing the fuel excise tax, which Smotrich signed on Sunday, will lower the price of a liter of gasoline from NIS 8.27 to NIS 7.77.
“At a time when fuel prices are soaring all over the world, we are ensuring that they do not soar in Israel,” a Government Press Office statement read.
“The same goes for Israel’s electricity prices, which are among the lowest in the West as a result of our insistence on developing natural gas reserves and introducing competition into electricity production.
“The Israeli economy is breaking records. We will continue to navigate it responsibly,” the statement added.
Smotrich previously announced an order cutting gas prices by 50 agorot per liter to prevent Israeli drivers from absorbing the rapidly rising cost of fuel. Instead, the state took on the cost by temporarily relinquishing part of the fuel excise tax it collects from drivers at the pump.
However, Smotrich’s earlier price cuts evaporated as gasoline prices in Israel hit a record high of NIS 8.27 per liter, equivalent to $10.17 a gallon, during the last week of September.
The increase followed a 13% global jump in gas prices amid supply chain disruptions and instability across the Middle East, according to the Energy Ministry.
The US dollar strengthened by roughly 3% against the shekel, which also contributed to the rise in fuel prices in Israel.