Knesset approves sterner anti-smoking measures

Israel’s Knesset approved more anti-smoking measures on Wednesday, May 2. These new stricter laws will be implemented in one month. Smoking will no longer be allowed at public events, outdoor sites (including the kotel or Western Wall) bus stops, outdoor concert venues, nor within ten yards of a medical clinic or a hospital entrance. Smoking will still be permitted at stadiums.

The Deputy Health Minister is required by law to submit a report annually to the Knesset speaker as part of the World Health Organization’s World No Tobacco Day, which occurs on May 31. According to the last study conducted by the Health Ministry’s Center for Disease Control approximately one fifth of the Israeli population smokes cigarettes. In an effort to support citizens trying to end their smoking habit, anti-smoking prescription drugs, such as Zyban and Champix, were included on the state’s subsidized medicine list.