A bill that would circumvent a loophole exempting newspapers from the tobacco advertising ban has been advanced, reports The Jerusalem Post.

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation voted to advance a bill that would ban tobacco advertising in newspapers. Previously, there had been a loophole in the existing law that exempted newspapers from complying. This was due to opposition from United Torah Judaism MKs, whose haredi (ultra-Orthodox) newspapers rely on funding from tobacco ads, reports The Jerusalem Post. Now that the UTJ is no longer in the coalition MK Mossi Raz (Meretz), who is sponsoring the new bill, hopes the law can be amended to include newspapers in the ban.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the bill is set to pass its preliminary reading in the Knesset this week.