Israel Considers Lowering E-Cigarette Tax Despite Soaring Smoking Deaths

A Health Committee hearing last week on a Health Ministry report showing smoking in Israel has reached a 10-year high drew only two Knesset members. During the discussion, a Finance Ministry representative said openly that, for economic reasons, there was no alternative to lowering the tax on electronic cigarettes. The Finance Committee is now weighing approval of that cut, along with a continued customs exemption for cigarettes bought by travelers leaving Israel.

The article argues that the move would make tobacco products cheaper and more attractive, while strengthening tobacco companies at the public’s expense. It says the justification being advanced is that the state already struggles to enforce the law and collect taxes. The author calls that not negligence, but policy.

The 2025 Health Ministry smoking report, presented to the Knesset, showed that smoking in Israel is at its highest level since 2014. Nearly one in four adults smokes, with the highest prevalence among people aged 21 to 34. The report described e-cigarettes as the main threat to creating a new generation of smokers, since they often lead to later use of other tobacco products and long-term addiction. Almost one-third of 10th-grade students have already tried them.

The article says smoking caused about 12,386 deaths in Israel last year, including roughly 900 from secondhand smoke, meaning nearly one in four deaths in the country is linked to tobacco. It estimates that 33 people die every day, and about 30,000 have died since October 7. It also says around 300,000 Israelis live with COPD, a disease strongly associated with smoking. The writer says tobacco-control funding is only a tiny fraction of the roughly 9 billion shekels a year the state earns from tobacco sales, and that enforcement is weak in schools, businesses, the IDF, and hospitals. The piece ends by blaming a powerful tobacco lobby and a state that, instead of fighting the problem, is making it cheaper.