Jerusalem, 29 June, 2025 (TPS-IL) — One day before the Knesset Finance Committee is set to vote on canceling the tax exemption for duty-free and imported smoking products, the Israel Cancer Association issued a stark warning: 24,000 Israelis could die before the phased plan takes full effect in 2028. The Finance Ministry’s outline would gradually cancel the exemption starting in 2027, but the association is demanding immediate repeal, citing preventable deaths, lost tax revenue, and what it calls political deals made “behind closed doors.”
The group has also petitioned the High Court to force a full and immediate cancellation of the exemption.