Netanyahu wants broader ban on Muslim call to prayer

For the third time, the Israeli Knesset postponed the vote on a bill which would ban the use of loudspeakers for the Muslim call to prayer, Israeli media reported yesterday, noting that the Israeli prime minister wanted the ban not to have time restraints.

According to Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, one of the sponsors of the bill, that he wanted to broaden the ban to cover all day, but had been unable yet to modify the text to ensure it excludes Jewish Shabbat sirens.

Before the postponement was decided, Litzman and Member of the Knesset Moti Yogev, from the Jewish Home party, which proposed the bill, agreed to modify the text of the bill so that the ban would apply from 23.00 to 07.00. This way, it would not apply to Shabbat sirens.

“The bill will be brought to a vote after agreements coordinated between its sponsors and the prime minister,” Yogev tweeted.

The Times of Israel reported Israeli TV Channel 2 saying that Netanyahu wanted restore the bill to its original form, namely to have it apply both during the day and night.