The move would effectively stop mosques from broadcasting their dawn calls to prayer over loudspeakers in residential areas.
Those supporting the bill say it is about noise pollution, while those against the bill have denounced it as racist and say it will create further division.
The sound of a call to prayer echoes across the hills of East Jerusalem.
And it is a familiar sound to those who live nearby, carried on loudspeakers five times a day, starting before dawn.
Now, a group of Israel's politicians wants to muffle the sound, banning the use of loudspeakers by what it calls "houses of worship" in residential areas.
The response to the measure has been anything but quiet.
There was shouting in the parliament as the two sides hotly debated the measures.
One Arab politician tore up the legislative papers, calling the move racist.
Supporters of the bill say it is aimed at improving the quality of life for people living near mosques, who they say have been losing sleep.
One supporter, the Jewish Home Party's Motti Yogev, says the bill is not about religion at all.
"This is what the law means: This is a social-minded law that aims to protect citizens' sleep without, God forbid, harming anyone's religious faith, either from Islam, Judaism or any other faith in God."
However, opponents say the legislation impinges on the religious freedom of Israel's Muslim minority.
The chairwoman of the opposition Meretz party, Zehava Gal-On, has denounced the bill.
"It is a small, pathetic, racist, shallow coalition which gives in to a few worthless radicals, and you are all lining up, competing who will declare more loyalty to the hatred of Arabs. This coalition has gone crazy. You are out of your minds. It's one of the most shameful days that I remember in Israel's Knesset."
The legislation, if passed, would ban a summons to worship via loudspeakers between 11pm and 7am, effectively muting the dawn call from mosques.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel backs freedom of religion but residents have a right to be protected from noise.
But one ultra-Orthodox Israeli politician has opposed it, saying the law might also affect the use of sirens to announce the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.
The legislation will go to committee for further discussion before any final vote in parliament.
But on both sides of the sectarian line, many fear the debate will amplify, rather than quiet, religious tensions.
