- Israel Summer Time
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Time zone in Israel:
Grey colours indicate areas which do not follow either IST or IDT.yellow Israel Standard Time (UTC+2)
Israel Summer Time (UTC+3)Israel Summer Time (Hebrew: שעון קיץ, sh'on kayits; "Summer Clock"), also in English, Israel Daylight Time (IDT) is the practice in Israel by which clocks are advanced by one hour around Passover to make the most of seasonal daylight. Since 2005, this period extends every year from 2:00 a.m. on the last Friday before April 2, i.e. on the Friday on or before April 1 (irrespective of when Passover falls) and ending at 2:00 a.m. on the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur (note that weekends in Israel are Friday to Saturday).
Contents
History
Until 2005, the schedule was variable: the only requirement was that there be at least 150 days per year of DST, and the dates were set out each year by the Ministry of the Interior.[1][dubious ]
Pre–1992
Before 1992, daylight saving was governed by the Time Act, a law inherited by Israel from the British Mandate of Palestine. Summer Time was introduced in Israel between the years 1948–1957, but the length of Daylight Saving Time has changed significantly depending on the year. In 1951–1952, it was enacted for about seven months, whereas in the years 1953–1954 it was enacted for only three months. In 1958, daylight saving time was canceled. Due to the global energy crisis because of the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War, Summer Time was enacted again from 1974–1975.
Up until 1992, daylight saving time was operated by an order of the minister of the interior. In 1980 the authority of the minister for this matter was contested in an appeal to the supreme court. The supreme court decided that the minister's authority was indeed more limited than the common practice, as he may only decide on the dates of DST while its operation is unquestionable. Following this decision the Knesset amended the Time Act so the minister will also have the authority to abolish DST in a certain year.
1992–2005
The Law Determining the Time (Hebrew: חוק קביעת הזמן Hebrew: Hok Kvi'at Hazman) is an Israel law governing Israeli daylight saving time. It was approved by the Knesset in 1992, replacing the British Mandate of Palestine time act inherited by Israel. The 1992 time zone law cancelled the Time Act, and stipulated that DST will be operated for at least 150 days each year, and that the final dates will be decided by the minister of the Interior, subject to the approval of the Knesset committee for internal affairs. In some years the decision as to which day summer time would start or end was made at the very last minute due to political haggling and this caused disruption to international airline schedules at Ben Gurion Airport.
2005–present
Until 2005, the start and end of DST each year was established in an ad hoc fashion as the result of haggling between political parties representing various sectors of Israeli society. Parties representing religious groups wanted the start delayed till after Passover and the end to precede Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, while the secular parties would argue for starting it earlier and ending it later. Thus, there was no established rule that could guarantee a predictable changeover in either direction. The debates about a fixed rule for determining the dates of DST went on for years, and resulted in a suggestion that DST will start on the 2nd day of Passover and end on the weekend between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This suggestion was rejected as it stipulated an annual DST period of only 5 months, and yet it served as the basis of the final compromise. After 2005, the annual debate has been effectively ended.
In the past, the unpredictability of DST in Israel became frustrating enough that Microsoft Windows stopped trying to track changes and just made Israeli time be Greenwich Mean Time plus two hours (GMT+2) (and disabled the daylight saving option). This has led to various ad hoc solutions to the problem in Windows systems and other Microsoft software (e.g. Outlook calendar entries are often off by an hour when shared, due to the lack of DST support). On November 17, 2009, Microsoft released an update that has daylight saving time enabled for Israel. However, the date for transition back to Standard Time is set as the Second Sunday of September, regardless of the Hebrew Calendar date.[2] Windows 7 does contain correct DST times up to 2023, but not all software makes use of this extra information.
In 2010, due to an unusually large difference between the lunar based Hebrew calendar and the solar calendar the date of the return to winter time was September 12, which was very early. This sparked protests by the more secular public, and calls for a change in the way the date is determined. Many members of the government were sympathetic to this and at one point in the ensuing row the Minister even proposed moving to winter time just for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and then returning to summer time. In September 2010 the argument over the dates for summer time reached new heights and some firms even refused to adopt it.[3][4]
Proposals for change
On 6 June 2011, Internal Affairs Minister Eli Yishai announced his support for extending DST, setting the ending time to the beginning of October. The change still requires the approval of the Knesset.[5]
Daylight time in Palestinian territories
The Palestinian Territories operate on "Palestinian Standard Time", which observes DST at slightly different times. This has led to some confusion.
In territories controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, DST ends later, which can lead to some confusion. On September 5, 1999, terrorists were transporting two bombs that they mistakenly thought were set to go off at 17:30 Israel Standard Time; they were actually set for 17:30 Palestinian Daylight Time, which was an hour ahead. As a result, the bombs went off while being transported, killing the terrorists.[6]
Darwin Awards are given out to "commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives" by "eliminat[ing] themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chance of long-term survival."[7] The 1999 winner was awarded to a group of Palestinian terrorists who neglected to note that Israel had already switched that year from daylight saving time to standard time because of the religious holiday.[7][8] The bombs had been prepared in a Palestinian-controlled area, and set on Daylight Saving time.[7] The drivers had already switched to standard time, and the cars were still en-route when the explosives detonated, killing them but no one else.[7]
Summer time start and end dates 2007-2016
Summer Time Year Summer Time begins Summer Time ends 2007 30 March 16 September 2008 28 March 5 October 2009 27 March 27 September 2010 26 March 12 September 2011 1 April 2 October 2012 30 March 23 September 2013 29 March 8 September 2014 28 March 28 September 2015 27 March 20 September 2016 1 April 9 October See also
References
- ^ "Daylight Saving Time in Middle East". Webexhibits.org. http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/g.html#i. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ "December 2009 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems". Support.microsoft.com. 2011-06-29. http://support.microsoft.com/KB/976098. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- ^ Grimland, Guy. "High-tech firms refuse clock switch until late October - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News". Haaretz.com. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/high-tech-firms-refuse-clock-switch-until-late-october-1.313456. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- ^ Service, Haaretz (2010-08-09). "Dalia Itzik to rabbis: Find a solution to daylight saving time crisis - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News". Haaretz.com. http://www.haaretz.com/news/dalia-itzik-to-rabbis-find-a-solution-to-daylight-saving-time-crisis-1.312356?localLinksEnabled=false. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- ^ Lis, Jonathan (6 June 2011). "Israel to get a longer summer". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-to-get-a-longer-summer-1.366267. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ "Living on Zionist Time — 1999 Darwin Awards". Darwinawards.com. 2007-01-03. http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-38.html. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ a b c d We're with stupid, Carina Chocano, Salon, January 3, 2000
- ^ "Living on Zionist Time". http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-38.html. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
External links
Categories:- Israeli law
- Daylight saving time in Israel
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