The imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque has condemned an Israeli legislative proposal that would restrict the Muslim call to prayer, after a ministerial committee approved the bill for advancement in the Knesset on Sunday, June 1.
Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, issued the warning on Monday after Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation greenlighted the proposal, which was submitted by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and National Security Committee chair Zvika Fogel. The bill would prohibit the use of mosque loudspeakers by default unless authorities grant a permit.
Sheikh Sabri said the bill represented a new and more dangerous phase in a long-running effort to silence the adhan — the Islamic call to prayer. “The current attempt to ban the Muslim call to prayer has taken a dangerous turn by legalising the banning of the call to prayer through issuing a law to prohibit it,” he said on Monday, according to Middle East Eye.
Under the proposed law, approval for loudspeaker use would be conditional on criteria determined by Israeli authorities: volume levels, noise-reduction measures, a mosque’s location, its proximity to residential areas, and its impact on nearby residents. Police would have the power to order an immediate shutdown if permit conditions are breached.
The penalties are steep. Operating a loudspeaker without a permit would carry a fine of 50,000 shekels ($17,719), while breaching permit conditions would incur a 10,000-shekel ($3,545) penalty. Repeat violations could result in the confiscation of equipment altogether.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation plays a gatekeeping role in Israel’s legislative process, determining whether proposed bills advance to a preliminary reading in the Knesset. The bill has cleared that stage, but no date has been set for a full parliamentary vote.
Ben Gvir and Fogel have argued the legislation addresses a public health concern. “In many places, the noise of the muezzin is unreasonable and harms the quality of life and health of residents. This is a phenomenon that cannot be tolerated,” Ben Gvir said, as reported by Middle East Eye.
Sheikh Sabri rejected that framing directly. “They have no right to consider the call to prayer as a disturbance or noise,” he said. “The disturbance and noise come from the war machines of the aggressors.”
The imam further challenged Israel’s legal authority to enact such a law. As an occupying power in East Jerusalem, Sheikh Sabri said, Israel has “no right to alter the existing status quo of the occupied territory” and has “no right to enact laws that contradict the laws that were in effect in the country before its occupation.” Middle East Eye reported his remarks on Monday.
It remains unclear whether the bill would apply to Al-Aqsa Mosque itself, which sits in occupied East Jerusalem — a Palestinian territory Israel formally annexed in 1980, a move that much of the international community does not recognise as legally valid.
Palestinian citizens of Israel, who would be most directly affected by the legislation if enacted, have also condemned the proposal, according to Middle East Eye. They have rejected the government’s framing of mosque calls to prayer as a noise problem and argue the bill is part of a broader effort to erode Palestinian religious and cultural identity.
Regional and Global Impact
The bill has drawn the opposition of Palestinian religious and civic leaders, who see it as an extension of Israeli policies targeting Muslim worship in Jerusalem and across Israel. Sheikh Sabri’s invocation of international law — specifically the principle that an occupying power may not make permanent changes to occupied territory — signals that Palestinian leaders intend to frame the issue as a violation of legal norms recognised by the international community, not merely a domestic Israeli policy dispute.
The fate of the bill will be watched closely by Muslim-majority governments and international bodies that have previously criticised Israeli actions at and around Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Background
Efforts to restrict the Muslim call to prayer in Israel stretch back years. In 2017, a similar bill seeking to ban loudspeakers for the adhan passed a first reading in the Knesset but was never enacted into law. At the end of 2024, Ben Gvir instructed Israeli police to stop mosques from broadcasting the call to prayer, saying it “disturbs” Jewish residents, according to the Times of Israel. Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, during the 1967 war and formally annexed the territory in 1980 — a step not recognised by the United Nations or most states. International law holds that an occupying power does not acquire sovereignty over occupied territory and may not impose permanent changes on it.
What Happens Next
The bill must now secure approval from the full Knesset, where no date for a vote has been set, according to Middle East Eye. Should the Knesset advance it, the legislation would require additional readings before it could be enacted. Sheikh Sabri’s public warning signals that Palestinian religious institutions will continue to publicly oppose the bill at each stage of the parliamentary process.
