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Almost no smoking in Ben Gurion airport Terminal 3

Posted on August 23, 2007 • By Deena Levenstein
Category: Social |

In a few weeks it will cost you NIS 1,000 to smoke in Terminal 3 (the main terminal) of Ben Gurion Airport. That is unless you choose to smoke in one of the 3 newly-designated smoking rooms. Airport employees are instructed to tell others - whether passengers or fellow staff members - to obey the law.

This is a definite step up from the previously reported roped-off smoking area. Yes, there are pictures exhibiting the smoking area separated only by a rope. Yes, a rope! (I was just told there is an Israeli comedy skit making fun of the fact that Israel is possibly the only place in the world that has/had air separating the smoking from the non-smoking sections. Humorous indeed!)

Anyway, following a NIS 1.25 billion class-action suit threat, the Israel Airport Authorities are finally taking the non-smoking laws seriously.

As a Canadian-Israeli, it is often interesting comparing the two countries. Smoking laws have developed much more slowly in Israel than in Ontario. In Toronto I can spend hours in a restaurant or bar and leave smelling as fresh as when I entered. In Israel, pretty much every time, I leave with my hair smelling like 100 cigarettes. Though the laws in Israel forbid smoking in places like malls - and airports - it is still quite normal to be sitting in the (kosher!) food court and have clouds of smoke blowing in your direction. And not only by guests but by employees of the public places as well.

And so, it is a breath of fresh air for us non-smokers to hear about serious steps being taken towards true non-smoking public environments.

Click here to read more about Israel’s move towards higher health and standard of living consciousness.

Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, “B-G’s Terminal 3 goes smoke-free”, The Jerusalem Post, August 20, 2007.

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