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🇮🇱 Israel /Health & Science

Can Israel finally stub out smoking? Experts turn to AI, brain stimulation, and new drugs

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Smoking rates are rising in Israel, with one in four adults now smoking, driven by war stress and aggressive promotion of new products.
  • Despite a higher death toll from tobacco-related causes than from wars, public concern remains low, activists say.
  • New measures include graphic warning images on products and the removal of duty-free privileges for tobacco in two years.

While the war in Gaza has claimed thousands of lives, a less dramatic but equally tragic toll is mounting from tobacco use in Israel. Smoking rates have climbed to one in four adults, a significant increase attributed to wartime stress, aggressive marketing by tobacco companies, and a lack of government enforcement.

Smoking is not just a physical addiction, but involves feelings and attitudes.

— Prof. Yael Bar-Ze’evDiscussing the psychological aspects of smoking addiction.

Anti-smoking advocates gathered at Shaare Zedek Medical Center to discuss "Just to Breathe," highlighting the daily deaths and widespread illness caused by smoking. Dr. Ariel Rokach noted that an average of 33 Israelis die daily from tobacco-related causes, a statistic that has failed to galvanize public attention.

This news should have shaken the country, but it didn’t.

— Dr. Ariel RokachCommenting on the low public awareness of the high death toll from smoking.

"This news should have shaken the country, but it didn’t," Rokach stated. Despite this apathy, some progress is being made. Graphic warning images will soon appear on all tobacco products, and duty-free privileges for these items will be eliminated in airport shops within two years. However, challenges remain, with tobacco companies actively promoting e-cigarettes near schools.

Many more Israelis died from tobacco than from wars. We have failed to stop it.

— Prof. Zvi Fried-LenderHighlighting the scale of the tobacco problem in Israel.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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