Not in public (illustration)
Photo: Visual/photos
Brown-bagging alcohol soon in Israel?
New bill seeks to limit sale of alcohol, punish adults who purchase for minors. Carrying alcohol in public spaces may also be restricted
People in Israel may soon be seen walking on the street with bottles wrapped in brown paper bags, just like in the United States. According to a new bill proposed Thursday in the war on drunkenness, the sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol will be restricted in public spaces.
According to the law, drinking or being in possession of alcohol in a transparent bottle in the streets will be forbidden between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am. In essence, this means that we won't be able to walk around outside with a bottle or glass of alcohol, and, instead, will have to cover the drink or transfer it to an opaque bottle.
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In addition, drinking alcohol in a car in a public space will also be illegal.
Similar prohibitions exist in various countries around the world. The US has the "open bottle law" which is in place in 43 of the 50 states. According to the US law, it is prohibited to carry "an open container" in public, in reference to containers of alcoholic beverages. Contrary to the Israeli bill, this prohibition is in place during all hours of the day and not just at night.
The open bottle law has spurred some creative solutions to hide an illegal open bottle, such as, for instance, placing open bottles of alcohol in brown paper bags in a bid to cover them from the peering eyes of law enforcement.
Local authorities in Britain also have the authority to forbid the consumption of alcohol in public.
As part of the Israeli bill, the police will try to battle a well-known phenomenon: adults purchasing alcohol for minors. In order to patch up this loophole, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch proposed prohibiting providing minors with alcohol in public spaces accompanied with a 6 month prison sentence for violators.
In an effort to limit the sale of alcohol at night, the bill includes an article proposing that a special license from the police be required for the sale of alcohol between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am. Such a license will be provided to places such as pubs, restaurants, clubs, and event halls.
If businesses without such licenses sell alcohol despite these prohibitions, police officers will be given jurisdiction to order the business closed for 30 days. The police will also be granted the authority to confiscate alcoholic beverages, even if they are in closed bottles, if they have reason to believe that consumption of the beverages will cause disturbances of the peace.
The bill also suggests that every bottle of alcohol have a warning label on it, similar to those in many countries around the world.
Minister Aharonovitch submitted the government bill Thursday to the heads of the judicial system. It will soon be up for vote in the government and is expected to pass in three readings within two months.
