Graphic tobacco packaging rule aims to curb smoking deaths in Israel

Israel has rolled out a comprehensive graphic‑warning requirement that will cover 75 percent of the visual area on all tobacco and nicotine product packaging, starting this Sunday.

The rule envelops traditional cigarettes, e‑cigarettes, rolling tobacco, hookah gear and nicotine pouches. The other 25 percent of each pack must remain in a plain colour, a continuation of the 2020 mandate that eliminated brand logos and colourful designs.

The government stressed that the selected images portray the real‑world health damage caused by smoking—cancers, heart attacks, chronic lung disease—while being mindful of local cultural and religious sentiments to ensure broad acceptance.

Non‑compliant manufacturers or importers risk criminal prosecution and hefty fines: up to 452,000 shekels for corporations and up to 226,000 shekels for private traders.

Israel first signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003 and ratified it in 2005. With today’s regulation, it joins roughly 140 nations that enforce full‑size graphic warnings on tobacco packaging.

Moses Bar‑Heam, head of the Israel Cancer Association, noted that the striking visuals are designed to forge an immediate connection in the public mind between tobacco use and its fatal health repercussions, a strategy aimed at curbing the more than 1,000 deaths linked to smoking each month.