One pack of duty-free cigarettes: the line between social justice and its absence?

Israel’s Ministry of Finance is halving the country’s duty-free allowance for cigarettes, which even now is hardly generous.

According to a Globes online story quoting the Hebrew daily Ma’ariv, from April, passengers returning to Israel from overseas will be allowed only 125 gm of duty-free tobacco products, equal to one pack of cigarettes.

The Israel Tax Authority says that the new measure, which will cancel the current limit of two packs of duty-free cigarettes per passenger, will generate NIS150 million a year in revenues.

“There is no reason in [the] world for Israel to subsidize cigarettes, especially for people able to travel abroad,” said a top Tax Authority official. “This is not the social justice that the public wants.”

Many people might applaud such a stance, but the question arises as to why one pack is acceptable while two packs aren’t.