Summer is here
Daylight Savings Time installed
Annual battle over extending DST beyond 193 days underway; Standard Time to be reintroduced in October
Israel reintroduced Daylight Savings Time (DST) overnight, pushing time forward one hour at 2 am – to 3 am Friday.
Israel's use of Standard Time has been the subject of great controversy over the past few years, as a growing percentage of the public – and with them Knesset members – say that given Israel's abundance of sunlight hours, the country should maintain Daylight Savings Time year-round, or at least reduce the use of Standard Time to a minimum.
Related stories:
- Thousands sign petition to stop Standard Time use
- Ending DST: Surrender or compromise?
No Jewish aspect to daylight saving debate
In accordance with the Time Determination Law (2005), Israel's Daylight Savings Time will begin on the last Friday before April 2 at 2 am and will end on the last Sunday before the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei at 2 am.
In June 2011, following a public outcry on the matter, Interior Minister Eli Yishai agreed to extend DST from 185 days to 193 days.
In mid-March, 61 MKs and the Tzohar Organization signed a petition urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set a permanent date on the Gregorian Calendar, by which Israel will switch between Daylight Savings Time and Standard Time.
"There seems to be no end to this inaneness," MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) told Ynet. "My bill, which aims to extend Daylight Savings Time to the end of October, like it is in the rest of the world, has been stuck in the Knesset's Internal Affairs Committee – which is headed by Shas.
"Hundreds of thousands of Israelis want this change, but the interior minister and the religious parties are holding it up," he said.
The Interior Ministry, however, said that the bill will be heard during the Knesset's coming summer session.
Aviel Magnezi contributed to this report
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