New law in Israel would ban tobacco advertisements

Companies violating the law would be penalized with a 450,000 shekel ($124,600) fine.

(June 25, 2018 / JNS) A bill that would ban the advertisement of tobacco products was approved by the Knesset Economics Committee on Thursday.

Mailing-list ads would be forbidden under the new law, as would window displays of cigarettes in stores except for tobacco shops, as well as newspaper ads unless the paper included an anti-smoking ad of the same size along with the tobacco sales pitch.

The legislation was proposed by Zionist Union MK Eitan Cabel and Likud MK Yehuda Glick. Deputy Health Minister, United Torah Judaism MK Yakov Litzman argued in the past that the law would bankrupt newspapers, who rely on the advertising revenue.

Companies violating the law would be penalized with a 450,000 shekel ($124,600) fine.

The bill will be passed onto the Knesset for consideration and will require three rounds of voting before passing into law.