{"id":232488,"date":"2026-08-02T09:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T09:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/232488\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T09:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T09:57:10","slug":"israel-to-now-require-cigarette-packaging-to-carry-graphic-warning-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/232488\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel to now require cigarette packaging to carry graphic warning images"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel began requiring all smoking products<\/a> across the country to carry graphic images of the harms caused by smoking on Sunday, joining approximately 140 countries worldwide.<\/p>\n

In addition to the images, scientific information, and information directing users to the national smoking cessation hotline and Israel’s health funds will be combined into a warning area that must cover 75% of the packaging of all tobacco and smoking products, including e-cigarettes, hookahs, rolling tobacco, and nicotine pouches.<\/p>\n

The remaining 25% of the surface will be dark brown with an olive green tint. The shade, Pantone 448C, has been used in Israel since 2020 after it was selected as the ugliest color in the world.<\/p>\n

Packaging will not be allowed to feature brand colors, logos, or design elements.<\/p>\n

Legislation fought for over two decades<\/p>\n

The policy is part of the World Health Organization<\/a>‘s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which Israel signed in June 2003 and ratified two years later, in August 2005. The convention is intended to protect the public from health, social, environmental, and economic effects of tobacco consumption and exposure to smoking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PictorialPictorial warnings on cigarette packaging, now required by law. (credit: ISRAEL CANCER ASSOCIATION)<\/p>\n

Currently, about 66% of the world’s population is covered by this policy, which the Israel Cancer Association said is considered one of the most effective tools for discouraging smoking and raising awareness of its dangers.<\/p>\n

While Israel ratified the convention over two decades ago, the legislation requiring the warnings faced pressure and opposition until its final implementation.<\/p>\n

CEO of the Israel Cancer Association, Moshe Bar Haim, called the legislation “a very dramatic milestone in the fight against smoking,” which claims more than 1,000 lives in Israel every month through a variety of smoking-related diseases.<\/p>\n

“A picture is worth a thousand words, and from today it may also save lives, authentically convey the devastating effects of tobacco and deter even those who do not smoke,” Bar Haim said.<\/p>\n

He also said that the fight still had a long way to go, warning that Israel was at “the height of a crisis in smoking rates in Israel.”<\/p>\n

Bar Haim stated that the Israel Cancer<\/a> Association was especially concerned about the growing rates of children and teenagers using e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches without understanding the health risks of doing so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He advocated for outlawing smoking products with sweet flavors and scents which “are intended to entice teenagers into joining the cycle of addiction through manipulation.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must protect the younger generation from the predatory claws of the tobacco industry. All smoking products in Israel, including hookahs, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, must be permitted only in their original tobacco flavor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A previous survey conducted by the Israel Cancer Association found that the policy requiring warning images was supported by 84% of the public.<\/p>\n

There is also majority support among young people, with 57% of respondents in a 2026 survey saying they believed the policy was important because it emphasized the dangers of smoking.<\/p>\n

Security situation causes smoking rates to rise<\/p>\n

According to Israel Cancer Association data, 24% of Israelis smoked cigarettes<\/a> in 2026, with smoking more prevalent among men, at 34%.<\/p>\n

Approximately 15% of the population used e-cigarettes, with the rate considerably higher among people aged 16 to 24, at 24%.<\/p>\n

Hookah smoking increased from 11% last year to 15% this year, while cigar smoking rose from 2% to 5%. According to the data, approximately 5% of teenagers and young adults had tried nicotine pouches.<\/p>\n

Approximately 76% of smokers want to quit, with the figure rising to 86% in the Arab sector. Some 72% regret having started smoking at all.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of the public, 46%, know smokers who want to quit but have been unable to do so. Among smokers themselves, the figure is higher, at 53%.<\/p>\n

The public is divided over whether cigarette prices should be increased through taxation, with 55% supporting the measure. Among nonsmokers, 63% believe cigarette prices should be raised through taxes.<\/p>\n

Among smokers in 2026, approximately 40% said they had recently begun smoking, resumed smoking or increased how frequently they smoked because of stress, anxiety or the security situation.<\/p>\n

One third of the general public and approximately half of smokers said they knew others who had begun smoking or resumed smoking because of the situation.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization has declared smoking the world’s leading preventable cause of premature death, and has emphasized that there is no safe level of smoking or exposure to smoking.<\/p>\n

Under the updated law, marketing a smoking product without a warning image depicting its health effects constitutes a serious criminal offense and can carry a fine up to NIS 452,000 for a corporation or NIS 226,000 for a privately owned business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel began requiring all smoking products across the country to carry graphic images of the harms caused by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[14298,44563,44565,44564,37,65679,33897,45860,8593,5653],"class_list":["post-232488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-cancer","tag-cigarettes","tag-e-cigarettes","tag-electronic-cigarettes","tag-israel","tag-israel-cancer-association","tag-smoking","tag-vaping","tag-who","tag-world-health-organization"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117025325025864400","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}