The Cabinet on Sunday approved sweeping changes in laws aimed at winning the war against alcohol, particularly among youth. If an inter-ministerial committee approves the Cabinet recommendations and the Knesset passes them, the new regulations would raise the legal age for consumption of alcohol to 21 and would ban take-out sales between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The law, if passed, will authorize police to confiscate alcoholic drinks consumed in off-hours in public places. Limits also would be clamped on advertising alcohol, and the price of drinks would be raised in non-liquor stores, such as supermarkets.
Alcoholic beverages will still be allowed to be served if used on the premises where they are permitted, such as pubs. Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch (Israel Our Home) sponsored the bill, which places stiff fines on liquor stores, which could be closed down for 30 days for violations.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pointed out that the use of alcohol among youth has become a “plague,” with the country's alcohol use in second place among children age 11. Approximately half of youth between the ages of 15 and 17 have drunk alcohol at least once, and a substantial number of them do not see any danger in drinking.
“We need this law as soon as possible, and the people of