Knesset committee okays daylight savings through October

The Knesset Interior Committee on Monday lent its go-ahead to a plan to extend daylight savings time through the end of October, bringing the much-hyped legislation one step closer to completion.

With six legislators supporting the motion and only two opposing, the bill, proposed by Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar, will now be be presented to the Knesset for its second and third reading. Sa’ar said he wished to finish the process by the end of next week.

Last week the bill garnered a majority in the Knesset for its first reading, but was sent to the committee to be fine-tuned before a final decision was made. The proposal would push the October sunset from around 5 p.m. to approximately 6 p.m.

Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Eli Ben Dahan (Jewish Home) said Monday the decision would be difficult for those who were punctilious about morning prayers, which are meant to be recited after sunrise. He called for the government to allow religious people to be late to work in “a problematic two-week window” during which the later sunrise would force many to choose between their daily worship and getting to work on time.

Meretz legislator Nitzan Horowitz called Ben Dahan’s suggestion “weird,” hinting that legislation allowing people to be late couldn’t work.

“The law was approved in the committee and will go through a second and third reading in the Knesset in a few more days,” Horowitz wrote on his Facebook page. Then, he added, “this issue will end once and for always, and already this year we’ll have a long daylight savings time like the rest of the world.”

“This is an important decision,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the wake of the cabinet’s vote of support last week. “We now have a land flowing with milk, gas and sunshine,” he added, referring to the government’s decision on gas exports, which was also raised in that cabinet meeting.

Haviv Rettig Gur contributed to this report.