Israeli violations extend to the Muslim call to prayer

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On Eid Al-Adha, as prayers and greetings traveled across communities, a troubling signal rose from West Jerusalem: an Israeli ministerial committee approved a measure that would reach into the soundscape of worship and hand new powers to police at sacred Muslim sites.

The bill — sponsored and advanced by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party, which is part of Israel’s governing coalition — would require mosques to obtain authorization before using loudspeakers for the adhan (call to prayer) and would empower security forces to intervene more readily.

It would codify a regime where permission is the exception and prohibition the default, setting a threshold that could suspend a core element of Islamic worship the moment a permit is deemed violated. The penalties would be steep, including fines and the confiscation of loudspeakers. The measure suggests fines of 50,000 shekels ($17,400) for operating loudspeakers without a permit and 10,000 shekels for noncompliance.

The legislation goes beyond noise or procedure. It sits at the heart of a protracted dispute over freedom of worship and raises questions about the historic rights of ownership, management and access to Jerusalem’s most sacred sites.

The Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy places, anchored in Jordan’s historic role, has long provided a practical framework for protecting sanctity and safeguarding a shared space around Al-Aqsa and its related shrines. Its foundations rest on religious legitimacy, historical memory and a web of legal commitments that bind........

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