Chareidim Promise MK Tibi To Not Back The New Muezzin Bill

During a meeting on Wednesday, Shevat, with the Knesset Finance Committee, MK Ahmad Tibi (Arab List) revealed that the heads of Shas and Yahadut Hatorah had promised not to advance the Muezzin Law.

Gafni promised that his and Deri’s promises would be met and that their vote for the law was only the preliminary vote. MK Yitzhak Vaknin added that his hand would be cut off if he voted for the law.

Tibi: “I want a commitment here that this law will not be promoted next Wednesday, the understandings have to comply.

Gafni: “Promises will be kept, even Deri will comply.”

MK Vaknin said yesterday in the news that the Knesset Law Committee will hold a discussion next Wednesday, stating what had to be said was said and they will not vote anymore.

The muezzin is the person at a mosque who recites the call to prayer. The muezzin’s chant, generally broadcast over a loudspeaker from the mosque’s minaret, is a familiar sound throughout the Islamic world, from the giant mosques of Cairo, Istanbul and Baghdad to the smaller ones in towns and villages in every Arab country.

The call to prayer can also be loud and, no doubt, annoying. It occurs five times a day, including a first call before dawn. Under the “muezzin bill,” backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and endorsed by his cabinet, the government would be allowed to ban the use of loudspeakers at mosques in Israel (and at other houses of worship, although no one has identified a problem at synagogues or churches).

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)