An article from the English-language Jerusalem Post of late January explains the rational for the change and can be found in:
ftp://ftp.huji.ac.il/users/ephraim/tz/timezone97.ps.gz
Please note that the starting time mentioned in the English-language article is NOT the time that was finally decided upon by the Knesset.
The ZIC file I included in my previous message contained the proposed times (and comments) NOT the real times. Attached is the true ZIC file. 10**6 apologies. ___________________________________________________________________________ Ephraim Silverberg, CS System Group, Phone number: 972-2-6585521 Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Fax number: 972-2-6585439 WWW: http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~ephraim E-mail: ephraim@cs.huji.ac.il --------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Zone Information Compiler (ZIC) File for the State of Israel (1989-2009) # According to the Office of the Secretary General of the Ministry of # Interior, there is NO set rule for Daylight-Savings/Standard time changes. # Each year they decide anew what havoc to wreak on the country. However, # there is a "supposed" set of rules which is subject to change depending # on the party the Minister of Interior, the size of the coalition # government, the phase of the moon and the direction of the wind. Hence, # changes may need to be made on a semi-annual basis. One thing is entrenched # in law, however: that there must be at least 150 days of daylight savings # time annually. Ever since 1993, the change to daylight savings time is # on a Thursday night from midnight IST to 1 a.m IDT. The change back to # standard time is on a Saturday night from midnight daylight savings time # to 11 p.m. standard time. 1996 is an exception to this rule where the # change back to standard time took place on Sunday night instead of Saturday # night to avoid conflicts with the Jewish New Year. # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Zion 1989 only - Apr 30 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1989 only - Sep 3 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 1990 only - Mar 25 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1990 only - Aug 26 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 1991 only - Mar 24 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1991 only - Sep 1 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 1992 only - Mar 29 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1992 only - Sep 6 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 1993 only - Apr 2 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1993 only - Sep 5 0:00 0:00 S # The dates for 1994-1995 were obtained from Office of the Spokeswoman for the # Ministry of Interior, Jerusalem, Israel. The spokeswoman can be reached by # calling her office directly at 972-2-6701447 or 972-2-6701448. # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Zion 1994 only - Apr 1 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1994 only - Aug 28 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 1995 only - Mar 31 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1995 only - Sep 3 0:00 0:00 S # The dates for 1996 were determined by the Minister of Interior of the # time, Mr. Haim Ramon. The official announcement regarding 1996-1998 # (with the dates for 1997 no longer being relevant) can be viewed at: # # ftp://ftp.huji.ac.il/pub/tz/announcements/1996-1998.ramon.ps.gz # # The dates for 1997 were altered by his successor, Rabbi Eli Suissa. # No changes have been made regarding 1998 as of yet. # # The official announcement for the year 1997 can be viewed at: # # ftp://ftp.huji.ac.il/pub/tz/announcements/1997.ps.gz # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Zion 1996 only - Mar 15 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1996 only - Sep 16 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 1997 only - Mar 21 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1997 only - Sep 14 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 1998 only - Mar 20 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1998 only - Oct 18 0:00 0:00 S # These rules are probably wrong, but they are close approximations (usually # within a few weeks): # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Zion 1999 only - Apr 11 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 1999 only - Sep 5 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2000 only - Apr 30 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2000 only - Sep 24 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2001 only - Apr 15 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2001 only - Sep 9 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2002 only - Apr 7 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2002 only - Sep 1 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2003 only - Apr 27 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2003 only - Sep 21 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2004 only - Apr 18 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2004 only - Sep 12 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2005 only - May 1 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2005 only - Sep 25 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2006 only - Apr 23 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2006 only - Sep 17 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2007 only - Apr 15 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2007 only - Sep 9 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2008 only - Apr 27 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2008 only - Sep 21 0:00 0:00 S Rule Zion 2009 only - Apr 19 0:00 1:00 D Rule Zion 2009 only - Sep 13 0:00 0:00 S # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone Israel 2:00 Zion I%sT