Prosecutions sought

In a letter sent on June 20 to Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, members of the Knesset Yehudah Glick and Yoel Hasson called for the criminal prosecution of cigarette companies, according to a story in the Jerusalem Post relayed by the TMA.

The politicians argued that cigarette companies were continuing to produce and market cigarettes in the country, even though they ‘have known for decades that their products have caused and cause an unthinkable number of fatalities’.

Tobacco use in Israel had increased by 13 percent in one year, driven by low taxes on roll-your-own tobacco and vigorous marketing of smokeless and other tobacco products, the politicians said.

Tobacco use was responsible for more than 8,000 deaths in the country every year.

The companies’ actions were “actually an attack on Israeli residents” and “[o]ur purpose is to prevent the destructive consequences of this attack,” they said.