Minister of the Interior Eli Yishai announced this morning that the professional committee he appointed to examine the question of daylight saving time recommends extending it, but by less than two weeks.
The committee was set up following widespread public criticism after daylight saving time ended in September, when summer temperatures were still at their height, and a long time before daylight saving time ended in Europe and the US, causing damage to the economy estimated in the tens of millions of shekels.
"The committee's recommendation was unanimous, and it invested a great deal of time in studying the matter," Yishai said in his opening remarks. "The committee recommended that daylight saving time should last 193 days instead of 180 days. It will end on October 1 every year, and resume at the end of March. According to a survey by the Dahaf Institute, 46% of the public do not want to extend daylight saving time. They want to leave things as they are, or even to shorten daylight saving time. That is surprising. I myself like daylight saving time."
The committee set up by the interior minister received recommendations from the public and heard representations from different sections of the population. Among the considerations were the Yom Kippur fast and economic issues raised by industrialists. The committee presented a 200-page report.
Yishai said he would adopt the committee's recommendations in full. "The committee was completely independent," he stressed.
This means that daylight saving time will last 193 days and standard time 172 days. For the sake of comparison, in the US, standard time lasts a little over four months.
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