Israel on Sunday morning switched to standard time at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, after Daylight Savings Time (D.S.T) was extended by 3 weeks.
Israelis moved their clocks and watches back by one hour Saturday night.
Clocks were originally supposed to be set back on October 6, but a committee set up by Israel’s Minister of Interior Gideon Saar waited until the end of the month to do so.
“I announced when I set up the committee that the objective was to find the best arrangement for the citizens of Israel,” Saar said at a press conference. “After checking the committee’s work and its recommendations I decided to change the status quo.”
“The additional hour of daylight for the citizens of Israel has a positive influence on every one of the central aspects of life,” he said.
On October 6, Israelis who fought for years to have daylight savings time substantially extended found that their phones and computers ignored new state directives and sent their clocks an hour back overnight.
Many mobile phones were already programmed to expect the clock change to go ahead over last weekend and were not able to readjust for the later, October end to daylight savings. The bug affected some Google phones, iPhones, Android and iOS software, BlackBerrys and Symbian phones.
In 2005, a law was passed ordering D.S.T. to be implemented, beginning with the last Friday before April 2 and extending until the last Sunday before Yom Kippur — in order to make the final hours of the 25-hour fast seem a little brighter.