It may be four years later than originally anticipated, but the State of Israel’s Wealth Fund has finally begun to collect income from the sale of natural gas.

According to the Israeli Tax Authorities, by late August the fund had accumulated 1.88 billion shekels ($540 million). Taking into account proceeds due this year but not yet collected, the total sum should amount to 3.84 billion shekels ($1.11 billion).

According to figures recently released by the Ministry of Energy, residuals from natural gas, mineral resources, and service fees jumped by about 50% in the first half of 2022, amounting to some 829 million shekels ($240 million). This increase is the result of record production of natural gas from the Leviathan and Tamar gas fields in the first half of the year, as well as a rise in the exchange rate. Based on data released by the Finance Ministry last week, some 700 million shekels ($202 million) went into the wealth fund as a result of gas profits in August alone.

The Wealth Fund was created in 2014 as a response to public criticism that the gas companies earned too much and paid too little in taxes. The fund was to become operational once it had at least 1 billion shekels, a mark which was reached last June. The fund’s earnings are intended to be invested in social, economic and educational projects.