2026 time change dates for Israel
At 2:00 AM the clocks jump straight to 3:00 AM in Israel. That hour never happens, and everyone loses an hour of sleep.
At 2:00 AM the clocks return to 1:00 AM, so that hour is lived through twice and the night is an hour longer.
Israel keeps IST in winter and shifts one hour forward for the summer.
Countdown to the next change
Does DST Actually Save Energy?
This was the original justification, and it is the claim that has held up worst. A US Department of Energy report to Congress in 2008 measured the four weeks added to DST in 2007 and found a saving of about 0.5% of daily national electricity use — real, but small.
Other work has found no saving at all. A well-known study of Indiana, which adopted DST statewide in 2006, found residential electricity use actually rose by 1–4%: households used less lighting but more air conditioning on hot summer evenings. Any lighting savings are also partly offset by extra petrol use as people travel more in the lighter evenings.
Background
- The spring transition is associated with a measurable short-term rise in heart attacks and fatal traffic crashes, an effect researchers attribute to the lost hour of sleep rather than the clock itself.
- Russia experimented with permanent summer time from 2011 to 2014 before settling on permanent standard time.
- The energy case for DST is weak by modern standards. A US Department of Energy study in 2008 found savings of about 0.5% of daily electricity use, and other studies have found no saving at all.
Tips for Israel
Set your clocks before going to bed to avoid confusion in the morning.
Update your car clock, microwave, and other manual clocks that don't auto-update.
Gradually adjust your sleep schedule a few days before the time change to minimize disruption.
Use the extra evening daylight in summer for outdoor activities and vitamin D.
Frequently asked questions
When do the clocks change in Israel in 2026?
Clocks go forward on Friday, March 27, 2026 and back on Sunday, October 25, 2026.
Which way do the clocks go?
"Spring forward, fall back" is the usual mnemonic: forward one hour in spring, back one hour in autumn.
Do I have to change anything myself?
Phones, computers and anything that syncs over the internet update on their own. Car clocks, ovens, microwaves and older wall clocks generally do not.
Is Daylight Saving Time being scrapped?
It has been proposed in many places and adopted in few. The European Parliament voted in 2019 to end mandatory clock changes and the change has stalled; in the United States the Sunshine Protection Act has repeatedly passed the Senate without becoming law. Most of the world that changes its clocks is still changing them.