Orthodox Jews block Israeli bid to turn down volume of Muslim calls for prayer

Jerusalem: A government-backed Israeli bill to limit the volume of calls to prayer at mosques has been blocked by an unlikely source -- the country’s ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had backed the controversial bill, which government watchdogs had called a threat to religious freedom.

It had been due to get its first reading in parliament this week until health minister Yaakov Litzman, a member of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, stepped in.

Litzman appealed the bill on Tuesday night, saying it could affect similarly loud Jewish prayers, Israeli media reported.

The bill, proposed by members of the far-right Jewish Home party, was adopted by a ministerial committee on Sunday and was due to go through three readings in parliament before becoming law.

The bill will now be put on hold until a ministerial committee holds a second vote.

The bill was drafted in response to noise from mosques, but would in theory apply to all religious institutions -- including synagogues.

“For thousands of years, the Jewish tradition has used various tools, including shofars (a ram’s horn) and trumpets” for Jewish holidays, the minister said in his appeal letter, cited by the media.

“Since the technology developed, loudspeakers have been used to announce the onset of the Sabbath, at the permitted volume level, and in compliance with every law,” he added, referring to the weekly Jewish day of rest.

He added that the proposed law constitutes an interference with religious practice and the status quo between religious authorities and the state.

In protest against the bill, Arab-Israeli lawmaker Talab Abu Arar chanted the Muslim call to prayer in parliament earlier this week, provoking furious protests from some Jewish members.

According to media reports, Arab MPs opposed to the bill pressured Litzman to use his power as a minister to block it, arguing a common right to religious practice for Jews and Muslims.

Around 17.5 per cent of Israelis are Arab, the vast majority of them Muslim, but they complain of discrimination and are underrepresented in high-level jobs.