The cabinet unanimously approved on Sunday draft legislation to extend daylight savings time by some 10 days.
According to the legislation, drawn up following recommendations by an Interior Ministry panel charged with looking into the matter, daylight savings time would be in force from the last Friday in March until the first Sunday after October 1.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that this was an important and
long overdue step: “Now, we will be able to consider how the matter
works in practice. This has been discussed for years and it was not
possible to check its actual effects, but we are taking action.”
Netanyahu said extending daylight savings time would promote better
coordination with Europe’s economic clock, extend daylight hours and
save electricity.
Under the bill, daylight savings time would be extended from 182 days to
193 days per year. This issue – debated widely for years – has long
been presented as a wedge issue between the religious and secular
populations.