Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion is advancing plans to require mosques to turn down the volume of loudspeakers during the call to prayer Hadashot TV news reported Tuesday.
The plan will reportedly be one of the first major initiatives pushed by Lion who entered office last month after winning a second round runoff in municipal elections in November.
As part of the plan the report said old loudspeakers at mosques will be switched out for new ones that are quieter; the volume of the call to prayer will not be allowed to exceed the limit permitted under noise ordinances; and police will be permitted to turn down the volume of the speakers if they are loud.
“Our goal is to deal with this issue with all the relevant parties so that all those involved will be content” Lion said.
Proposed Knesset legislation known as the “Muezzin Bill” that would limit the use of loudspeakers during the Muslim call to prayers has languished since clearing its first hurdle toward becoming law in March 2017.
Critics of the bill argue that the measure unfairly targets mosques whose muezzins use loudspeakers to announce the call to prayer five times a day including during the pre-dawn hours.
The Islamic-Christian Commission to Support Jerusalem and Holy Sites dubbed the move a “dangerous crime” and a flagrant violation of the freedom of worship in occupied Jerusalem.
The commission’s Secretary-General Hanna Issa said the “racist measure” makes part of Israeli attempts to alter the city’s identity and judaize holy sites.
