Knesset passes legislation extending Daylight Savings Time

Clocks now to spring forward in March and fall back in October, regardless of Yom Kippur’s timing

The Knesset on Monday passed legislation extending Daylight Savings Time. The period of extended daylight hours is now set to begin on the Friday before the last Sunday in March at 2 a.m. and last until the first Sunday after October 1, at 2 a.m.

Standard time previously began on the Saturday night before Yom Kippur so that the day’s fast, which is pegged to nightfall, would end an hour earlier.

Because the Hebrew calendar is lunar, Yom Kippur can fall between mid-September and mid-October, causing Israelis to return to standard time as much as a month and a half before most other countries.

The issue of seasonal time transition has been a contentious one among Israelis, with many pointing to a relatively early loss of daylight hours, and what they see as a resultant rise in electricity bills nationwide.