During the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday 12 Cheshvan, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed his support for the bill sponsored by MK Moti Yogev that seeks to silence the loudspeakers of minarets of mosques that all too often disturb nearby Jewish and Arab residents alike. He said the bill would move to the Ministerial Law Committee due to its importance, explaining people of all religions are bothered by the loud volume of the mosques that area heard all hours of the day or night. Mr. Netanyahu stressed that while Israel remains committed to freedom of religion, it also must protest all its citizens from unacceptable levels of noise.

Mr. Netanyahu stated “Today, the Ministerial Committee on Legislation will consider draft legislation on limiting the magnitude of noise from public address systems in houses of prayer in Israel. Muslims, as well as Jews and Christians, also suffer from this. I cannot count the times, they are simply too numerous, that citizens have turned to me from all parts of Israeli society, from all religions, with complaints about the noise and suffering caused them by the excessive noise coming to them from the public address systems of houses of prayer. Israel is a country that respects freedom of religion for all faiths. Israel is also committed to defending those who suffer from the loudness of the excessive noise of the announcements. This is how it is in many European cities and in many places in the Islamic world, where the loudness of the announcements is limited out of consideration for the populace as a whole. I support similar legislation and enforcement in the State of Israel”.

As reported, supporters of the bill headed by Jerusalem Councilman Aryeh King protested outside the Jerusalem apartment of Shas leader Aryeh Deri, asking Deri and his Knesset colleagues to support the bill. King used his Facebook page to post “This is a wakeup call to Aryeh Deri”, as they blasted the sounds of the mosques outside Deri’s Har Nof apartment.

Shas MK Yigal Guetta responded to Bayit Yehudi MK Moti Yogev explaining they were thinking about supporting the bill until Aryeh King turned it into a political matter, now calling on all Shas members to oppose it.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)