The Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs on Sunday approved a bill proposed by Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner forbidding adults from purchasing alcoholic drinks for minors. According to the bill, violation of the law will be punishable by three months imprisonment.
According to the motion, which will now be passed on for legislation as a government bill, recent publications and research have shown a growing trend in teenagers who are not able to purchase alcohol on their own asking for help from an adult.
According to Plesner, the growing phenomena of teenage alcohol consumption, sometimes to the point that hospitalization is required, forces the government to intervene and try to prevent teenagers from getting their hands on alcohol.
So far, the law has yet to prohibit the purchase of a drink for a minor, something the MK called a “loophole that must be closed.”
Plesner told Ynet, “Dealing with drinking among minors is an important and essential part of the struggle against violence and road accidents together. The permissive norms are like throwing fuel on the flames.”
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry on Sunday instructed teachers to begin an education program for the prevention of alcohol consumption among teens as early as the fifth grade.
Teachers will be required to talk with students of the damages of alcohol, and a pamphlet is already being distributed to fifth graders around Israel. The pamphlet is titled, ‘The party” and includes educational stories of children who have experimented with alcohol and suffered negative consequences.
{Ynet/Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
BARUCH HASHEM! too bad they dont do this in america where we should have a zero tolerance policy and not multiple slaps on the wrist
And what about the almost unlimited alcoholconsumtion and handing out to youngsters on Simchat Torah and Purim?
Dovid from comment 2 mentioned “what about almost unlimited alcohol on purim and simchat torah”.Dovid your obviously from a modern orthodox home or else you missed the boat!!! In our community on purim the mishnah berurah(a halachah sefer if you didn’t know)speaks out clearly about the chiuv to get drunk on purim, and on simchat torah the reason why we drink is to get on a ruchnius(spiritual) high closer to torah. So go back to five towns and stay off matzav.com!!!
To #3: I am talking about kids 11-14 years old (yes some Bar-Mitzva but still kids) who are served alcohol on Purim and Simchat Torah. And if you have to get drunk to reach a higher level I think you are making a mistake. Lots of Yidden reaches high without being drunk. Where alcohol goes in saichel goes out…
#3- are the Rambam, the Rema, the Aruch HaShulchun, the Mishne Brura etc, NONE of whom hold that this halacha means that one should get drunk to the point of illness, or worse, being unable to perform mitzvos, or acting in a manner not befitting a Jew, also too modern orthodox for you? The mitzvah to get drunk on purim is not carried out properly by 99.9 percent of people; and last I checked, there was no mitzvah to get drunk on simchas torah.