Four million people in Israel are exposed to cigarette smoke from neighboring apartments, a new Health Ministry report revealed.
The report outlines the scope of the phenomenon and the urgent need to prevent it.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Ministry, which has the legal authority to address all environmental nuisances - including those originating from private homes, such as noise - has consistently refrained from fulfilling its obligation to protect those four million victims.
The new report devotes significant attention to surveys conducted in Israel and around the world in 2022 and 2024 as part of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC). This is the first international research project of its kind on tobacco use, spanning 31 countries that together represent more than half of the world's population. The study is part of the only international research program evaluating the impact of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Tel Aviv University joined the project in 2021, making Israel the 30th participating country.
The report includes data on exposure to tobacco smoke in general, and specifically within residential apartments. Some 73% of respondents reported exposure to tobacco smoke, while only about 27% said they were rarely or never exposed.
According to the report, 39% of Israelis reported exposure over the past year to cigarette smoke infiltrating their apartment, while 22.8% experienced such exposure at least once a week. Assuming children are exposed at similar rates to adults, it is estimated that approximately four million of Israel's ten million residents are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes, with more than two million exposed at least weekly.
The report stresses the urgent need for effective public health intervention to prevent such exposure, noting that even brief or low levels of exposure pose a health risk.
The report highlights widespread misconceptions regarding when and where people are exposed to tobacco smoke. Some 57.5% of adults did not realize that exposure to secondhand smoke can occur even when the smoke cannot be seen or smelled, or when the smoker is not visible.
Additionally, 44.8% of adults, including 52.4% of smokers, did not understand that smoking on a balcony can expose others to harmful tobacco smoke. Overall, 43.1% of adults, including 56.2% of smokers, did not realize that smoking outdoors does not protect children from exposure. Many mistakenly believe that others are not exposed, and the distance required to protect bystanders is not well understood.
Responsibility for preventing environmental hazards in Israel rests with the Environmental Protection Ministry. Former Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg instructed her ministry's legal department to draft regulations preventing this widespread exposure to tobacco smoke, but was surprised to discover that the Ministry's legal advisers ignored the directive and decided not to implement it.
The current minister, Idit Silman, while serving as chairwoman of the Knesset Health Committee sharply criticized the Environmental Protection Ministry in 2022 for failing to provide such protection. After becoming minister herself, she reiterated in the Knesset, during presentation of the Climate Law, that she still firmly supports this position. Nevertheless, the Ministry's legal department has spent more than five years opposing protections for the four million Israelis affected by their neighbors' smoking.
Smoking-related diseases are effectively "contagious" through exposure to tobacco smoke, in the sense that secondhand exposure can also cause illness. According to the World Health Organization, one out of every two smokers will die as a result of using their smoking product.
Though primary responsibility for preventing this hazard rests with the Environmental Protection Ministry, the public is also awaiting action by the National Security Ministry, as required under the court's conditional order.
In May 2024, the Supreme Court issued a conditional order requiring the Environmental Protection Minister, the National Security Minister, and the Health Minister to act to prevent cigarette smoke from entering residential apartments, primarily by enacting regulations or through other means. A final ruling has not yet been issued.
In February 2021, a petition was filed with Israel's High Court of Justice demanding protection for the public against tobacco smoke entering homes from neighboring apartments. The petition argues that such exposure constitutes one of the most severe environmental hazards under the Prevention of Nuisances Law and other legislation.
The petition included an expert opinion by the Environmental Protection Ministry's former deputy director-general and chief scientist, stating that the Ministry routinely addresses environmental hazards of this nature. Additional expert opinions detailed the health risks posed by secondhand smoke, including odor nuisance.
The petition also cited relevant provisions of the Prevention of Nuisances Law and the Lands Law, which state that ownership or possession of property does not justify creating an environmental nuisance affecting neighbors, and that a person may use his property as he wishes only so long as it does not harm others.
Arutz Sheva - Israel National News has reached out to the Environmental Protection Ministry for comment, and will publish the response when it is received.