Is smoking a constitutional right? A petition filed to the High Court for Justice on Tuesday claims a new anti-smoking bill infringes on basic civil rights.
"There are clauses in this law that violate the basic rights of smokers and owners of food and drink establishments," wrote Tel Aviv attorney Ido Almagor in his claim to the court, less than two weeks after the nationwide ban went into effect.
"There are over 1,250,000 smokers in Israel today, but their voices are silenced and they are persecuted as a community," said Almagor.
The law currently allows pubs, restaurants, cafés and dance clubs to create a special smoking area for their nicotine-aficionado patrons. But the cumbersome restrictions and regulations imposed by the State on establishments seeking a license to operate a smoking area have deterred most places from going to the trouble.
The area in question must be completely isolated from the rest of the clientele but cannot take up more than 25% of the overall square footage while providing smokers with suitable, and often expensive, ventilation.
The solution, says Almagor, is separate establishments for smokers and non-smokers.
"Small pubs and bars, where smoking is an integral part of the experience but whose owners also can't afford to build special areas will suffer unbearably from this law," the petition said.