A proposed bill to tighten regulations on mosque loudspeakers has drawn sharp criticism from Fawaz Moshur, chairman of the Islamic Council for Religious Rulings in Israel, after it passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset.
The legislation would require mosques to obtain a permit before installing or operating a public-address system used for the Islamic call to prayer.
Under the proposal, authorities would consider factors including the expected noise level, efforts to reduce noise, the mosque's location, its proximity to residential neighborhoods, and the impact on nearby residents before granting a permit.
The bill would also give enforcement officers the authority to order the immediate suspension of loudspeaker use if violations are found. Continued noncompliance could result in the confiscation of the public-address system.
Responding to the measure, Moshur accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his allies of focusing on the call to prayer while neglecting violent crime in Arab communities.
"The call to prayer interferes with Ben Gvir and his associates, while at the same time they ignore the suffering in Arab cities, reflected in the detonation of booby-trapped cars, grenade attacks, and repeated murders that terrorize residents," he said.
Moshur argued that what he described as Ben Gvir's "desperate" campaign would only strengthen Muslims' determination to preserve the public call to prayer.
Addressing the minister directly, Moshur said, "Before you, hundreds of wrongdoers and arrogant people tried to silence the call to prayer, and the oppressors were destroyed, but the call to prayer remained."
He added that "the real response to this hatred and racism is that our young people will turn to the mosques, and our daughters will turn to prayer and the hijab."