Israeli ministers endorse noise pollution bill said to ‘mute Muslim call to prayer’

Controversial bill which critics say targets Muslim worshippers is due to be put before members of the Knesset

An Israeli flag flies in front of a minaret and the Dome of the Rock on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, on March 17, 2016 (Getty)

Israeli ministers have endorsed contentious draft legislation known as the “muezzin bill”, which critics say is designed to silence the Muslim call to prayer.

Information released by the Justice Ministry on Sunday showed that the draft bill had been voted on and passed by Israel’s ministerial committee and will therefore be put before representatives of the Knesset as a government bill.

The bill, which in a revised form would ban religious leaders from using loudspeakers or public address systems to summon worshippers for prayers between 11pm - 7am, would limit the first of the five-times-daily Muslim calls to prayer, just before dawn.

It is likely to be passed, since it has the backing of the country’s ruling coalition. It was proposed by Motti Yogev of the far-right Jewish Home party, who says the legislation is necessary to avoid daily disturbance to the lives of hundreds of thousands of non-Muslim Israelis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously expressed his support for the bill, saying that “citizens of all religions” have complained about excessive noise from muezzins, mosque officials who traditionally call worshippers to prayers from the building’s minaret.

While the bill is primarily targeted at curbing noise pollution, critics have noted the proposed law contains a clause which says that “freedom of religion should not be harmful to quality of life nor used to convey religious or nationalist messages, and sometimes even words of incitement”, which they say is targeted at Muslims.

“This law does not deal with noise nor with quality of life, just with racist incitement against a national minority,“ Israeli Arab MP Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint Arab List party, said in a statement.

“The voice of the muezzin was heard here long before the racists of the Netanyahu government and will after them,” he added.

If passed, the bill will apply to houses of worship in annexed East Jerusalem and across Israel, but not to Jerusalem’s holy Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Similar measures have been proposed by Israeli politicians several times in recent years. A 2011 Knesset-commissioned report found that several European countries, as well as Cairo and some cities in Saudi Arabia, currently impose decibel-level limits on the muezzin’s call.

Around 20 per cent of Israel’s population is Arab, making the call to prayer a familiar sound across the country.