On Wednesday, a contentious Israeli bill that would impose strict new restrictions on the Muslim call to prayer, known as the adhan, cleared its first major legislative hurdle, passing a preliminary reading in the Knesset by a vote of 50 to 36. The legislation, tabled by lawmaker Zvika Fogel of the far-right party led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, now moves to a parliamentary committee for further review before advancing to a series of additional votes required to become law. If enacted, the bill would require all mosques to obtain official government approval to install and operate loudspeaker systems for the adhan, which is called five times daily.
Permits would be issued at the discretion of Israeli authorities, with eligibility tied to a set of criteria including maximum noise levels, required sound-mitigation infrastructure, geographic location of the mosque, proximity to residential neighborhoods, and documented impact on local residents. The bill also grants Israeli police broad authority to immediately shut down any unapproved or non-compliant sound systems, allows for full confiscation of audio equipment after repeated violations, and imposes steep financial penalties: up to 50,000 Israeli new shekels (approximately $16,700) for operating without a permit, and up to 10,000 shekels (around $3,300) for violating permit terms. Ben Gvir and Fogel have framed the proposal as a necessary public health measure, arguing the volume of the adhan constitutes intrusive noise pollution that harms nearby communities.
The legislation has triggered fierce condemnation from Palestinian leaders, rights advocates and religious communities, who decry it as an deliberate attack on Islamic religious practice and a declaration of religious war. Speaking to Middle East Eye, Khaled Zabarqa, a human rights lawyer based in Lod, called the framing of the adhan as a mere noise problem a direct insult to Muslim religious identity. “By justifying this proposed legislation, the Israeli government is laying the groundwork for a religious war within the country,” Zabarqa said, noting the bill forms part of a wider state-led campaign to “Judaise public space” by erasing non-Jewish religious symbols. He added that targeting the adhan and mosque minarets specifically, which anchor the Islamic and Palestinian identity of public spaces across historic Palestine, makes the legislation’s discriminatory goals clear, warning that Palestinian communities will not accept the targeting of their core religious rituals.
The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate has also joined in condemnation, warning that the bill could have severe ramifications for the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites located in occupied East Jerusalem. While the legislation’s text does not explicitly state whether it would apply to Al-Aqsa – a site that Israel annexed in 1980 in a move unrecognized by the international community, which universally classifies East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory – Palestinian officials warn the law sets a dangerous precedent for further interference at the site. “The proposed law exposes the true nature of the occupying state as an apartheid system that uses its legislative tools to impose religious persecution,” the governorate said in an official statement.
Omar Rajoub, director of the Jerusalem Governorate’s media office, emphasized that the bill is not a targeted response to noise pollution, but part of a long-running policy to erode Palestinian religious and cultural identity, particularly in Jerusalem. “In Jerusalem in particular, the proposed legislation comes amid an unprecedented escalation in measures targeting the city’s Islamic character,” Rajoub told Middle East Eye, pointing to ongoing Israeli incursions into Al-Aqsa, restrictions on Muslim worshippers’ access, removals of senior Islamic religious leaders and mosque caretakers, and growing interference in the independent administration of Islamic religious affairs. Rajoub added that the bill’s impact extends far beyond noise regulation, as it would formalize Israeli state control over the internal affairs of mosques and open the door to even more raids and restrictions under the cover of legal authority.