DST in Israel to be extended in 2013

Published 25-Oct-2012. Changed 5-Nov-2012

Update: On Monday, November 5, 2012, the Israeli Knesset approved the bill to extend Daylight Saving Time (DST) to a period of 193 days. DST in Israel will now begin on the Friday before the last Sunday in March, and end on the first Sunday after October 1. If the end of DST falls on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, then DST will end on the first Monday after October 1.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Israel will last until October 6, 2013, instead of Sunday, 8 September, as long as the Knesset approves a bill before the election in January 2013.

DST will begin on the Friday before the last Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday after October 1, making daylight saving time 193 days long instead of the current 182, according to a bill, which passed a vote with three in favor and one opposed in the Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee.

Calendar Israel 2013

Although the Knesset has been dissolved for this term, the government can still call plenum and committee meetings in order to pass bills, and are expected to pass this bill before the election takes place in January 2013.

Protests

On the evening before DST ended on September 23, 2012, dozens of protestors gathered in Tel Aviv claiming that Israel’s current policy of ending DST before the Yom Kippur holiday favors the ultra-Orthodox sector of the population over practical interests of the secular and modern Orthodox majority.

Related stories:

• Israel to Extend Daylight Saving Time
• Proposed DST Bill Gets Delayed in Israel
• Special Committee to Examine DST in Israel

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