Israel: empowering the public to enforce smoke-free law

Israel was among the first countries to adopt laws protecting people from exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS). The first such law was adopted in 1983. In 1994, all private and public workplaces were made subject to the law, and in 2001 the law became applicable to most places open to the public, including restaurants, cafés, and other places of leisure and entertainment.

The problem, however, is that implementation of the law is far from perfect. People keep complaining that there is still smoking in many places of entertainment and some public places as well. Local authorities, which are supposed to enforce the law, do so unwillingly and sporadically. Hence the need arose to launch a thorough campaign for enforcement.

The idea is that many people who are exposed to SHS will enforce the law by filing private law suits for compensation, mainly in small claims courts, against business owners in whose establishment smoking is still prevalent, who either do not post no-smoking signs as prescribed by law, or who ignore the law in other ways. This mechanism is simple, fast, effective, and has great potential to deter recalcitrant owners and to bring about comprehensive enforcement all over the country.

The campaign, which started last year and …