Boisterous Israel may simmer down in face of strict noise regulations
Israel is generally considered a noisy country, blessed with an abundance of car horns, alarms and loud talkers.
By Zafrir Rinat and Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel news Israel environmentIsrael is generally considered a noisy country, blessed with an abundance of car horns, alarms and loud talkers. Should the noise-reduction regulations promoted by Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan be approved, however, Israel may soon enjoy an almost European quiet - at least on paper.
The new guidelines would limit the noise allowed to be emitted from televisions or musical instruments in private homes, and apartment dwellers would be forbidden from yelling or singing at a volume perceived to be disruptive to neighbors.
The plan would even clamp down on boisterous singing behind the wheel. Noisy vehicle alarms would be banned completely, and owners of cars with such systems would be given a grace period in which to upgrade.
Erdan's plan would limit the use of firecrackers to isolated areas at least one kilometer from residential buildings, and building work would be limited to certain hours of the day.
The use of megaphones and public address systems will be prohibited during the afternoon and night, and allowed only on certain holidays and at schools. The proposal would also ban municipalities from operating leaf blowers in residential areas during certain hours.
The ministry is now putting the finishing touches on the proposal before submitting it to the Knesset. The proposal, however, does not explicitly state the level of noise pollution that can be considered a "disturbance."
Last year over 1,500 police reports were filed for noise-related offenses, and 17 percent of all complaints of environmental hazards in Tel Aviv were related to noise.
Officials at the Environmental Protection Ministry said that even if the new guidelines are approved, enforcement of noise-pollution regulations would remain under the purview of local authorities.
The new rules, they said, would simply aid those authorities in distinguishing which activities are prohibited by law.
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After all these years screaming at the neighbors to turn the music down and beening screamed back to go to hell, well not in those words but close, its about time we had such a law to protect us. What about those noisy air conditioners above our bedroom window will I at last have a wife who will get some sleep?? At last a bill that makes a lot of sense
"The proposal would also ban municipalities from operating leaf blowers in residential areas during certain hours" These should be banned full stop. Beyond getting woken up by them, the smell of fumes that come out of them and the mess they cause is just horrible. I'd rather street sweepers anyday. The contraptions are a waste of money and destroy the environment at the same time.
I live by HaYasmin street in Nofei Aviv. One of our anglo neighbors (Aviv is 95% anglo) is doing renovation/construction on their home and I was awoken EARLY this morning by their construction crew. Disgraceful. When I tried a previous day to tell the owner she started to scream at me. Nice folks.
Maybe we can regulate the gunshots and loud music coming from Israeli Arab villages when there is a wedding in their front yards in the evenings and during the afternoon siesta, especially on Shabbat.
This sounds great - I fully support this. In all chareidi areas, including my neighborhood, every day there are cars driving around with loud loudspeakers announcing everything from who just died (most common) to the latest sales event at some local store. Last week one came around at 22:30 at night blasting that there was a BOOK sales event that night in the center of the city!! It feels like I'm living in some kind of anarchy, some third world country.