Israel’s Chief Rabbi opposes law banning Muslim call to prayer

Chief Rabbi in Israel, David Lau yesterday announced his opposition to a law that aims to prevent the Muslim call to prayer, the athan, Ma’an reported.

Lau said he is working to reach understandings with Muslim clerics, and that he hopes to dispel the need to introduce such a law.

His office pointed out that he does not interfere in legislation and does not attempt to influence political work but his work aims to produce a common path that would make it so that there is no need for such legislation.

He believes that dialogue with Muslim scholars could lead to an agreement which allows lawmakers to waive the Muezzin Law as long as the understandings would achieve the desired goal that the disputed law seeks to achieve.

To that end, the rabbi delegated his adviser Rabbi Oded Wiener to attend the emergency meeting, held yesterday, which was organised by the Arab member of the Knesset (MK) Zouheir Bahloul, from the Zionist camp, and Yehuda Glick, from the Likud Party.

During the meeting, which was attended by Muslim and Jew clerics and imams, the Chief Rabbi’s representative said: “Chief Rabbi of Israel asked me to inform you that there is no religious aspect in this law at all, and the issue here is concerned with good neighbouring, and there are solutions that can be implemented to prevent this law. He confirmed that whatever the price is, we must prevent this law from being issued, because in this country we have a common living system shared by the entire community; this system is already fragile and must be protected from any threats.”