Let's get the facts straight. There were very few permits that were outright 'sold'.
Source?
The fact is that the Israeli economy would not survive without the money being poured in by frum people all over the world. Every block has a shul/yeshiva which was paid at least in part by hundreds of millions of dollars of donations annually. The frum tourists are essential to the economy.
Lol. The Israeli economy produces ~$400B a year. The annual government budget alone is close to $150B. Do you seriously think it depends on a few hundred million dollar in donations?
FYI Israelis spend more money on tourism abroad than tourists spend in Israel (and that includes all tourists, not only your frum saviors). This past year has proven tourism is far from necessary for Israel. It's less than 5% of GDP. And forex isn't a thing, the Bank of Israel bought over $30B just to keep the shekel from getting even stronger than it did (essentially a windfall of $30B that didn't cost anything), while total annual tourism spend is much less that that.
Now the current law does allow for entry for economic reasons. So why isn't this part of the economy recognised?
Pathetic victimhood with zero logic.