Israel Radio Stamp and
Color Trials
The following description is amplified and paraphrased from the Wallerstein Specialized Catalogue of Palestine and Israel Revenues, pages. 134-139.
Israel commenced issuing radio license stamps in 1951. The revenue collected was used to support “Kol Israel,” the Voice of Israel. The basic radio fee was 8.40.I.L. An additional 3.0 I.L. was added to help defray security charges. The charges were imposed by law (the Bul Bitachon law from the 1950’s) to provide extra income to the treasury to help offset the country’s heavy military/ security costs that were not sufficiently covered by other forms of taxation, such as Vat.
(The Israel Philatelist, February , 2010, p. 14)
Figure 1
Issued Radio stamp
Wallerstein RL14 8.4 +3 I.L. 1958 – 1960
The additional fee is indicated on the stamp as a black overprint reading “Bul Bitachon,” Security Tax.
