When the television and road signs were full of adds for vodka and other drinks why didnt the politicians in their ivory towers see this coming or did they proftit from this ...? Now that the damage to the nations youth has been done and sometimes to the children of the same greedy or indiffernt or stupid politicans they have decided to reverse the situation ....evidently they made enough money from this horror. Foolish people deserve foolish leasers.

2 weeks ago Channel 2 interviewed a grieving and bewildered father of a young soldier just killed in a tragic accident involving alchohol , the fact they wore no kippot or were there any traditional signs of Jewish mourning were amplified as behind the bewildered" grieving father was a huge framed poster of a Jack Daniels advertisement including a full glass and bottle of Jack Daniels. That this was a valued "art work" with pride of place in the home of the soldier's parents and sadly represents the anything goes and there is never enough of anything in life lifestyle of so many Israeli Jews today . How did this happen and what does it mean for the future generation and fate of this nation ?

Alcohol consumption can be totally stamped out of society if only there is the moral and political will and force to accomplish this. Yes, I realize Prohibition was essentially a failure here in the US, mostly thanks to the lack of such will and, admittedly, widespread corruption, but even here, it was 50% successful.

Prohibition in the US was an utter failure. From its very inception, the law lacked legitimacy in the eyes of the public who had previously been drinkers and yet completely law-abiding citizens. They viewed the laws as being “arbitrary and unnecessary” and therefore were willing to breach them. People turned to making their own [consumption was not outlawed, only the selling]. Congress had its own bootlegger. The upper class had their own supplies. While Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, it stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized and widespread crime. Law enforcement agents found themselves overwhelmed by the dramatic rise in illegal alcohol distribution. The problem is in teaching people to use it in moderation. Jews have been known to be more moderate in their drinking; it is supposed that early exposure has something to do with it as alcohol does not acquire the label of “forbidden fruit”, which would increase the desire for it. The teaching has to be reinstated, not prohibition. Wrong yet again.

I remember Israel of 45 years ago when they used to joke that Israel has a smog and alcohol problem: no one drinks and there is no smog. Children went to the makolet to buy groceries and they also purchased wine for their parents to make kiddush on and there was no problem selling it to them. Unfortunately times have changed and there are not just adult drunks, but teens are also using alcohol excessively. It is a sad thing to see Israelis sinking so low that alcohol and its advertising must be regulated, but it is necessary. My belief is that Israeli is trying too much to be like America, beside the wealth, there is the sicknesses too.

Thank you for your incisive analysis of a family in mourning, whose entire moral code, teachings and life style can be ascertained solely from the fact that they do not wear kipot and a poster on the wall. (yea, right...)

One of the first things that struck me when I made aliya was that you could buy liquor in the local grocery stores here. No such thing in Canada, at least in the '70's (don't know what it's like now). But, as already pointed out, most Israelis were only drinking 'Goldstar' or some such thing back then, hard liquor was hardly ever served outside of weddings and bar mitzvahs! I guess the change in demography since then has a little something to do with the growth in hard liquor consumption...