Health Minister Bosso told the Economic Affairs Committee about his brother, who was a heavy smoker and died of cancer, and said: Every day that we do not take action, we sin against ourselves.
The remarks were made at the end of a heated session to amend legislation intended to ban the use of flavors in smoking products; Chairman Bitan announced that he would advance the proposal but that it would not apply to hookahs.
Link to photos and videos from the debate (Stills credit: Knesset Spokesperson, Danny Shem Tov): https://photos.app.goo.gl/AXnkdq4PS5t9poPaA
The Knesset's Economics Committee, headed by MK David Bitan, began today (Monday) to prepare for first reading MK Eli Dellal's proposal to amend the 'Law Prohibiting Advertising and Restricting Marketing of Tobacco and Smoking Products' - and to prohibit the production and marketing of flavored or scented fillers for electronic cigarettes.
MK Eli Dellal noted that the harm caused to children as a result of smoking is terrible and that teenagers' initial experience with e-cigarettes also turns into drug addictions.
MK Dalal added that the problem is enforcement, noting that the Knesset enacts quite a few laws - but in the end they are not enforced. "It could be that sales and marketing need to be restricted from a certain age and below because there are still quite a few loopholes."
Ministry of Health representative Dr. Sharon Levy noted that the Ministry of Health agrees that smoking is a "blow" mainly to children and teenagers. According to her, children start smoking as early as the age of 10 and currently there are over 8,000 deaths a year from smoking-related harm.
Levy added that more than 50 countries ban the sale of e-cigarettes, and the issue really needs enforcement according to the law. "We're talking about dozens of countries and we're late. We haven't seen a change among adults for a decade," she said.
MK David Bitan criticized the Ministry of Health for not submitting a government bill on the subject, and addressed representatives of the Ministry of Health: "If this is so important to you, why didn't you submit a government bill and wait for a private bill that you seek to expand?"
The head of the Public Health Division at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sharon Alrai Price, responded that the Ministry of Health is working on a government bill, which includes quite a few issues - including reference to enforcement and the flavors of e-cigarettes, but she is unable to commit to a date. "What is holding it back is precisely the thoughts about enforcement, because this is a dramatic change," she said.
Levy added to Al-Rai-Price's words, saying that the bill is the order of the day and that they are long overdue.
Attorney Yoram Bonen, representing Philip Morris, noted before the committee that the wording of the bill is a ban on cigarette production and not a matter of flavors. Bonen explained that in the cigarette production process, substances that do not create a distinct flavor are used - and the bill seeks to prohibit their use, which would make it impossible to produce cigarettes. "In order to achieve a cigarette with the flavor accepted today, substances that will be banned are used," he said.
MK Bitan responded that there is no intention to expand the proposal so that it would be impossible to sell cigarettes at all, and that the intention is to include flavors such as fruit or watermelon.
Health Ministry representative Orna Cohen explained to the committee that according to studies, there are flavors, especially mint, that are added below the threshold that is perceived, and their purpose is to reduce the bitterness caused by nicotine and that these substances deepen the addiction. "This causes our children to become addicted after one or two cigarettes," she said.
Philip Morris' representative, Attorney Lilach Duhoch, also addressed the issue of enforcement and asked to refer to countries where there are sweeping bans and countries like Britain and Sweden where they managed to reduce the percentage of smokers: "When a cashier got confused and sold alcohol to a 17-year-old boy, she received a personal indictment. How is it possible that there is no enforcement here?"
Duhoh added that there are flavors like mint that she claims help older people reduce smoking. "If we ban everything, it won't happen," she said.
MK Bitan addressed the hookah issue that came up in the committee and noted that hookahs will not be part of the bill, because it is too broad an expansion. "The hookahs, you exaggerated, it's clear that it's in the flavors, it's less problematic. Otherwise, the Arab population will leave the State of Israel."
Dr. Sharon Levy commented on his words and said that there is 40% smoking in Arab society, and hookah smoking is no less problematic from a health perspective.
The director of the ICA's activities in the Arab community, Patan Jetas, noted that 46% of smokers in Israel start by smoking hookah and that there is unflavored hookah. "If smoking is so significant in Arab society, it affects Jewish society. Hookah started in Arab society, but it spread. We are the ones demanding enforcement here. Excluding flavored hookah is not addressing smoking in Arab society."
The representative of the Israel Cancer Association, Dana Frost, added that the flavors are a masking of the dangerousness. "I want to shout out to the cancer patients who came to us 40-50 years after they were told it was not dangerous... It's sweet for the youth so it's easy for them, if we don't ban it, the message will be received that it is less dangerous."
Health Minister Uriel Bosso told the committee that his brother died of lung cancer and was a heavy smoker: "We are shocked that 400 people die in accidents, but every hour and a quarter someone in Israel dies from smoking. You can wrap this in a blanket and electronic - bottom line, this is a shocking statistic."
The minister added that 22 people die every day from smoking and the numbers are not changing, so the bill needs to be moved forward quickly. "The economic damage is tens of billions and sorrow and heartache, and we are letting go of the reins. Every day that we don't do something, we are sinning against ourselves."
English 
Hebrew