UPDATE: Thanks to a government ministry a little more in touch with people, the summer clock laws were changed in 2013, good news for sun lovers! See the list below for an updated list of summer clock changes.
This year, 2021, the clocks go into summer mode on March 26th at 02:00, and go back on Sunday 31st October, at 02:00. A big “Booooo…” can be heard throughout the Holy Land from summer lovers…
See the following list for the new dates (as you can see, Israel gets an extra week of summer in 2021 and 2022!):
- 2019: Summer Begins March 29 – Summer Ends October 27 (212 days in total)
- 2020: Summer Begins March 27 – Summer Ends October 25 (212 days in total)
- 2021: Summer Begins March 26 – Summer Ends October 31 (219 days in total)
- 2022: Summer Begins March 25 – Summer Ends October 30 (219 days in total)
Israel has always had Daylight Saving Time, but ever since 2005 the date the clock was moved forward/back was based on the religious holidays of Passover in the spring, and Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year) in the autumn. This means the date always varied because the holidays are based on the Jewish calendar, but typically Passover happens in March/April, and Rosh HaShana in September. With the new laws in place since 2013, this has changed for the good. Instead of pissing the majority of secular Israelis off, because many countries throughout the world only change their summer clocks in October or even early November…