By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Authorities are in the process of establishing the first non-smoking wing of its kind at the Ayalon Prison in central Israel.Prisons Service spokesman Yaron Zamir said on Thursday that the non-smoking section was being set up at Ayalon’s medical ward following a petition to a Petah Tikva court by a prisoner suffering from a heart condition.The prisoner said the passive smoking he was exposed to was harming his health.Other prisoners, such as Dror Alperon, son of senior mob figure Yaakov Alperon, who was assassinated in a car bomb in 2009, has also complained of exposure to second-hand smoke.Under Israeli law, prison cells are considered private property rather than public spaces, Zamir stressed, meaning the Prisons Service could not prohibit smoking there “The vast majority of prisoners are smokers,” Zamir said. “We’ve had non-smoking cells, but we will now be setting up a non-smoking wing,” he added.
Police investigate after torched body found in Israel’s north
