The Ministerial Committee on Legislation voted to advance a bill that would prohibit tobacco ads in newspapers.
The bill, sponsored by MK Mossi Raz (Meretz), would eliminate a loophole in the existing law that exempts newspapers from the prohibition of tobacco advertising.
The reason for the exemption was opposition from United Torah Judaism MKs, whose haredi (ultra-Orthodox) newspapers rely on funding from tobacco ads. With UTJ out of the coalition, Raz hopes to fix the law.
The bill is set to pass its preliminary reading in the Knesset on Wednesday.
Another bill that passed in the ministerial committee on Sunday morning would require license plates for electric bikes and scooters. The bill, sponsored by UTJ MK Yakov Asher, is intended to prevent traffic accidents and make the riders of the bikes and scooters accountable.
In the bill, Asher cited a statistic indicating that 62% of electric bike and scooter riders have either been in an accident or narrowly avoided one.