Shas will participate in today's preliminary Knesset vote on the muezzin bill, which would restrict mosque call-to-prayer broadcasts, while United Torah Judaism will abstain to avoid breaking its deal with Arab MKs, according to journalist Dafna Liel. The arrangement allows the bill to pass its preliminary reading without fracturing the coalition agreements.
The muezzin bill heads to its preliminary Knesset vote this afternoon (Wed 15:08), with a carefully orchestrated coalition split. Shas has confirmed it will vote in favor — a position the party announced shortly after 15:00 Jerusalem — while United Torah Judaism will abstain. The abstention is designed to preserve UTJ's commitment to Arab MKs, reached earlier this week: in exchange for Arab support for the Basic Law: Torah Study, UTJ pledged not to advance the muezzin bill, which Arab lawmakers view as targeting Muslim religious practice. Shas's vote provides the coalition with the necessary numbers to pass the bill's preliminary reading without fracturing the arrangement.
The thread unfolded quickly this afternoon. At 15:08 Jerusalem, The Zioneer published the first report: the Shas faction's internal statement that it would vote for the bill. Minutes later, a second item added that UTJ would abstain to protect its deal with Arab MKs — reported by journalist Dafna Liel (N12/Yedioth Ahronoth). A subsequent Shas statement criticized National Security Minister Ben Gvir for not bringing his Red Cross bill to a simultaneous vote. By 15:08, a fifth item confirmed Shas's official support. The account of the Haredi-Arab deal originated with Liel, and has since been corroborated by political commentator Daniel Amram, who claimed (at 17:35 on Wed Jun 10) that the arrangement involved active affirmative votes by Arab MKs, not just abstentions — going beyond Liel's initial report.
As The Zioneer reported at 11:07 earlier today, the muezzin bill's advancement was enabled after Arab MKs helped the coalition pass the Torah Study Basic Law in its preliminary reading. Yisrael Beytenu is also expected to support the measure, providing additional coalition cover. The muezzin bill would prohibit the use of outdoor loudspeakers for the Muslim call to prayer — the adhan — during nighttime hours, mirroring restrictions already applied to Jewish synagogue calls in some jurisdictions. The broader political context, as The Zioneer reported on Mon Jun 29, includes a Haredi coalition standoff over military service, with Shas and UTJ jointly blocking coalition legislation unless the Torah Study Basic Law and a bill freezing arrests of draft-evading yeshiva students were advanced.
What remains open: the full vote count has not been published, and it is unclear how Arab MKs will vote on the muezzin bill itself, given that their deal was with UTJ — which is abstaining — rather than with the coalition as a whole. Daniel Amram's claim of active Arab votes in favor of the muezzin legislation remained contested and unconfirmed by on-the-record sources as of 15:50 Jerusalem.
6 developments
- DevelopingUnited Torah Judaism boycotts Knesset votes, cutting session short
- StrongShas and UTJ halt coalition voting in Knesset over daycare bill delay
- DevelopingMuezzin bill dropped from Knesset agenda after Gafni-Tibi phone call
- StrongIsraeli Knesset passes muezzin bill in preliminary reading, 50-36
Source and signal
- Internal intake