JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Knesset passed a bill extending Daylight Savings Time.
The bill, which passed its second and third reading Monday night, sets the change to Daylight Savings Time for the first Sunday after Oct. 1, making it 193 days a year — 11 more than under its previous law.
Under a law passed in 2005, Israel is required to move to Standard Time on the Sunday morning before Yom Kippur, which falls anywhere in September and half of October each year.
Haredi Orthodox parties opposed the measure, saying that ending Daylight Savings Time before Yom Kippur makes the 25-hour fast easier since it ends earlier.
Israel this year changed back to Standard Time in mid-September, more than a month before the United States.
