A man carries a pump nozzle labelled "Super 95" at a fuel station in Tzemach near the northern Israeli city of Tiberias on Feb. 28, 2022. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)
Israeli gas price is set at 7.05 shekels (2.18 U.S. dollars) per liter starting March 1, the highest since November 2014.
JERUSALEM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Ministry of Energy has announced an increase in fuel prices from March 1.
The maximum price for unleaded 95-octane gasoline, which is supervised by the Israeli government, is set at 7.05 new shekels (2.18 U.S. dollars) per liter beginning March 1, up 34 cents from February, according to the ministry's monthly fuel pricing bulletin.
According to historical data published by the ministry, the price will be at its highest level since November of 2014, when it was also fixed at 7.05 shekels per liter.
A woman holds a a pump nozzle labelled "Super 95" to refuel her car at a fuel station in Tzemach near the northern Israeli city of Tiberias on Feb. 28, 2022. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)
Gad Lior, a senior analyst for the Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper, told Xinhua that the price hike is due to a significant oil price rise in the Mediterranean basin and a two-percent increase in the rate of the U.S. dollar against the shekel in the past month.
Another reason, he said, is the Israeli government's refusal to lower the fuel tax rate which is now 67 percent of the consumer price.
Israel's fuel tax revenues totalled 21.5 billion shekels in 2021, according to the 2021 state revenues report issued by the Finance Ministry. ■
