Loudspeaker ban will ‘single out mosques’

THE ISRAELI government will support legislation prohibiting mosques from using loudspeakers to call worshippers to prayer.

The amendment to the law preventing noise disturbances defines “a strong or unreasonable noise” from a loudspeaker positioned in “a house of prayer”, and has drawn strong criticism from Arab members of the Knesset and from strictly Orthodox ministers.

The cabinet legislation committee voted in favour of supporting the private bill sponsored by coalition MKs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also endorsed the law. He said: “Israel is committed to freedom of worship for all religions but is also committed to protecting citizens from noise.

The cabinet vote means that the entire coalition is now obliged to vote in favour of the law when it is brought to the Knesset. But the Charedi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism have demanded a delay in the vote due to concerns the law could also prevent the traditional use of a siren in Jewish neighbourhoods at the start of Shabbat. The new law, which was originally supposed to include the prohibition of political and nationalist messages in mosques, has been limited only to general noise, but remains controversial. Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List, described it as “one more in a series of racist and populist laws whose sole intention is creating an environment of hate and incitement against the Arab public”. He claimed mosques were already covered by existing noise regulations and said the “aim of the new law is to single out mosques as a source of problems”.