Yehuda Glick
Yehuda GlickHadas Parush/Flash90

MK Yehuda Glick (Likud) demanded a comparison of the tax on cigarettes to the tax on rolling tobacco Monday, while criticizing the Finance Ministry for ignoring the issue.

Glick has been on a hunger strike for 21 days. He has stated that he will continue the hunger strike until Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon raises the tax on rolling tobacco.

During the Finance Committee discussion Monday, Glick turned to Kahlon and spoke to him harshly. "I want to talk about your attitude and that of your office towards the Knesset. Three committees in the Knesset: the Welfare and Health Committee, the Finance Committee and the Committee for the War on Drugs and Alcohol, unanimously adopted a decision based on the position of the Health Ministry and the Health Minister, the position of the Government of Israel on the position of the State Comptroller, the position of the World Health Organization, the position of the World Health Organization, the position of the UN, the position of the World Bank, the position of the Deputy Finance Minister, and the position of your Ministry. But the Finance Ministry is headed by Moshe Rabbeinu."

"For a year, we pleaded with your director general to come to the committee to combat the problem of drugs and alcohol, to explain why you decided not to comply with the government's decision and compare the tax on tobacco to the rolling tobacco tax. After a year, he was kind enough to come and said, 'We have not held a discussion about it yet.' We asked him, 'do you intend to hold a discussion about this?' He replied, 'Yes. In a month I will inform you when the hearing will take place.' It has already been six months since this 'month' in which he was supposed to announce when the discussion will take place. This is how they ignore the Knesset and the MKs," Glick accused.

He told Minister Kahlon: "My lord speaks a lot about the cost of living, but what about the living? Dozens of studies around the world have proven that this issue is what will save human life: Every hour in Israel a person dies from damage caused by smoking. But the Finance Minister knows everything. There are no studies. There is nothing. People do not die. So please tell me what your sources of information are? I also want to have this holy spirit."

Minister Kahlon said in response to MK Glick: "I think you are a wonderful person with [strong] values, but I have a disagreement with you on this matter. I'll sit with you again in the next few days and we'll talk. I don't like that you are in this situation. And unlike with other matters, there is no populism here. There is a real and moral position here against my world view. We'll have to see what to do."