Smoking Report: Sharp Rise in E-Cigarette Use Among Youth

The Health Ministry on Monday submitted its 2025 Smoking Report to the Knesset, presenting a concerning picture of the scope of the phenomenon and its damage in Israel. The data show that 23.1% of Israel’s adult population smokes. The report also finds that in 2022, an estimated 12,386 deaths in Israel were attributable to smoking, about 23% of all deaths in the country. Of those deaths, 894 people died as a result of passive, secondhand smoking. The figures reveal significant gaps between different sectors: the smoking rate among adult Arab men stands at 46.2%, twice the smoking rate in the overall population. In addition, 48.5% of the Arab population and 28.9% of the Jewish population reported exposure to involuntary smoking. A special chapter in the report was devoted to teenagers, where a clear upward trend was recorded in the use of electronic cigarettes. For the first time, the share of teens who have tried e-cigarettes is higher than the share who have tried regular cigarettes, about 20% of students in Israel said they had tried an e-cigarette, compared with about 19% who had tried regular cigarettes. In addition, about 17% of students reported that they had smoked an electronic cigarette at least once in the past month. The report points to an increase in experimentation with these products between 2023 and 2025 among Jewish and Arab students, and among Arab female students. Alongside the data, the report details steps promoted by the Health Ministry over the past year, including expanding cessation services in the health funds and the national hotline, and strengthening oversight by local authorities. As a central step, the ministry advanced regulations that will require graphic warning labels on smoking product packaging, similar to many countries around the world. This requirement, which will take effect in August 2026, will set a uniform warning size covering 75% of the packaging surface for all products, in order to prevent the mistaken perception of some products as lower-risk. For the first time, the report also included data from the National Quality Measures Program for Community Medicine in Israel, presenting the identification and treatment activities carried out by the health funds. Health Minister Haim Katz said, "Smoking continues to be one of the significant risk factors for public health, and accordingly the ministry is working to reduce the scope of the phenomenon. The data in the report require us to continue acting decisively to prevent exposure of children and teenagers to smoking products, while strengthening prevention, enforcement and public education measures." Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov sharply criticized the delay in legislation in the Knesset: "At a time when the use of electronic cigarettes among young people is rising at an alarming rate and the age of exposure to smoking and nicotine products continues to fall, significant legislative steps initiated by the Health Ministry to protect the public are still not being advanced in the Finance Committee. These are professional measures based on scientific knowledge and international experience, intended to reduce addiction, morbidity and mortality. Their delay harms the state's ability to protect public health." Prof. Sigal Sadetzki, head of the Public Health Division at the Health Ministry, linked the security situation to smoking patterns: "The ongoing emergency situation in Israel for seven years may also lead to the choice of risky behaviors such as smoking, as a dangerous way of coping with stress and anxiety. These behaviors are understandable given the reality, but they harm the health of body and mind, and therefore various actions should be taken to reduce their consequences." Sadetzki added that the ministry is investing a dedicated budget in the division's multi-year prevention programs.