Dovster

Legally, there is no smoking allowed in any restaurant in Israel, although many restaurants in large cities, and almost all restaurants in smaller ones, have outdoor smoking sections.

The one exception is in small Arab villages. Some of the restaurant owners not only allow smoking inside but, indeed, smoke there themselves. A few of them will allow smoking if the restaurant is empty or almost empty but not when it is full.

As (IMHO) Arab restaurants have the best food in the country, you should not pass up the opportunity to eating in one even if it does not allow smoking -- but if you find yourself dining in a small village it is certainly worth asking whether smoking is allowed or not.

(Don't worry about what will happen if a cop walks in while you are smoking. I have never heard of the law being enforced anywhere in the country.)

moe8555

I'd have to respectfully disagree with you on that point. I've heard of citations being passed out in bars and restaurants in Tel Aviv. But as far as I know, the restaurant/bar owner risks a much larger fine than the patron for letting people smoke.

But yes, in general, things are pretty lax. But regardless of how lax things may seem, definitely do not light up without at least asking first.

Dovster

We're not in disagreement at all. I said I never heard of anyone getting cited by police -- I did not say it never happened.

However, I live in the Galilee, not Tel Aviv, and most of the police I have met in this area are Arabs (either Christian Arabs or Druse) and their societies tend to be more accepting of smoking than the Jewish community.

I certainly agree 100% with you about not lighting up, even in an Arab-owned restaurant in a tiny Galilee village, without asking permission first.

Dovster

As the last post in this thread is 7 years old, I think I should update it. It is still true that restaurants in Tel Aviv do not allow smoking inside, but there seems to be fewer which have outdoor seating. That is mostly confined to cafes.

On the other hand, in rural areas and small towns (like those near me in the Galilee), all seem to have outdoor seating where smoking is allowed. This is not, admittedly, very workable when the winter rains come but from April through October that kind of weather is very rare -- and, personally, prefer outdoor seating during nice weather and would even if I were not a smoker. BTW, for non-smokers, outdoor seating is not a problem as most of the tables are so far apart that you will not be bothered by the smoke from another table.