Knesset okays extending daylight savings through October

Nitzan Horowitz praises move unlinking clock change from Yom Kippur; ultra-Orthodox legislators vote against measure

The Knesset on Monday gave the final seal of approval to a new plan extending daylight savings time through the end of October, untying the yearly switchover from the Jewish religious calendar.

The measure, which had wide support among the Israeli public, passed 73-15. Under the new rules, the clock change will no longer be linked to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which normally falls in early to mid-October, but will be fixed at the last Sunday of the month, giving Israelis an extra few weeks of sunshine.

The law had mainly drawn opposition from the ultra-Orthodox, who said the old rules made the 25-hour sundown-to-sundown Yom Kippur fast easier by making it end earlier.

MK Miri Regev (Likud) told the ultra-Orthodox legislator who opposed the change that its net effect would be positive. “You know it’s a good law… It’s good for all of Israel,” she stated. “If people can’t pray because of the law, Regev added, “we’ll discuss it again.”

MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), voiced his pleasure after the bill was passed. “It gives me great satisfaction to stand here after a 4-year battle,” he said. Horowitz, who for years spoke in favor of the idea, said the new law would help reduce the use of electricity and the number of car accidents and “give everyone one more hour of light.”

Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Eli Ben Dahan (Jewish Home) said last month the law 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 for 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.

Horowitz called Ben Dahan’s suggestion “weird,” hinting that legislation that allows people to be late for work wouldn’t succeed.

“This is an important decision,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the wake of the Cabinet’s vote of support last month. “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.