What Time Is It in Israel Right Now?

Two in winter, three in summer. Israel runs on UTC+2 as Israel Standard Time (IST) in the cold months and UTC+3 as Israel Daylight Time (IDT) in the warm ones, one of the few countries in Asia still moving its clocks. No conversion holds until you know which offset is in force: add two hours to UTC on standard time, three on summer time.

• Standard offset: UTC+2 (IST)

• Summer offset: UTC+3 (IDT)

• IANA identifier: Asia/Jerusalem

• Zones nationwide: One

• Land neighbours: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories

Israel Standard Time (IST) and Its Summer UTC Offset

Set at home. The transition dates come from Israeli legislation, not the European scheme, and since the rule was fixed in law in 2013 they follow a formula rather than an annual argument. The autumn date happens to match Europe exactly; the spring one does not.

A Friday start, a Sunday end. Clocks go forward on the Friday before the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October. The asymmetry is deliberate: the week opens on Sunday, so a Sunday change would land on a working morning while a Friday one falls inside the weekend. The autumn date already sits outside the week.

Where the UTC Offset Falls Out of Step

Two days each spring. Israel springs forward two days before the European Union, so each March the usual one-hour gap to central Europe briefly becomes two. It closes as soon as Europe follows, and the autumn reversal opens nothing at all.

A month against Egypt. The wider mismatch lies south. Egypt does not start its summer time until late April, so for about a month each spring Israel reads an hour ahead of a neighbour it otherwise matches exactly. In autumn the two return within days of one another, sometimes Israel first and sometimes Egypt, so that brief gap can run either way.

Longer gaps westward. North America moves weeks earlier in spring and a week later in autumn, so twice a year the distance narrows by an hour for weeks at a time.

A divided neighbourhood. The neighbours no longer agree on whether to switch. Jordan and Syria hold a permanent UTC+3, matching Israeli summer time and running an hour ahead in winter. Lebanon still changes its clocks on the European dates; Egypt switches on a schedule of its own.

Separate records nearby. The database holds its own entries for the Palestinian territories, with independent transition dates, so software treating the area as one zone will misread part of the year.

Anchor on Jerusalem noon. Jerusalem reaches midday at 10:00 UTC in winter and 09:00 in summer, since local noon shifts with the clocks. Nine in the morning in Berlin is ten here whichever season it is, because the two move together.

Business Hours and the Sunday to Thursday Week

The week opens on Sunday. Offices work Sunday through Thursday, with Friday and Saturday free, leaving four shared days for anyone abroad on a Monday-to-Friday calendar. Friday is a short day in much of the economy, closing early ahead of the rest day.

Where the day sits. Offices generally run from around eight or nine to five or six, so the overlap covers most of the western European afternoon and only the first hour or two of the American east coast morning.

What do IST and IDT stand for?
Israel Standard Time and Israel Daylight Time: the winter and summer readings of a single zone.

When does the local date roll over in UTC terms?
At 22:00 UTC in winter and 21:00 once the clocks have gone forward, since local midnight shifts with them.

What year does the Hebrew calendar show?
A lunisolar count now in its fifty-eighth century, used alongside Gregorian dates officially and in religious life.

Do the Palestinian territories keep the same clock?
They share both offsets but hold separate entries with independent transition dates, so the two can diverge briefly around a changeover.

How long is the shortest day in Jerusalem?
Just over ten hours in late December, against a summer maximum a shade above fourteen.

Do calendar systems need a yearly update?
No. The rule has stood in statute for over a decade, so the dates follow a formula rather than an announcement.

Related Guides

• Jordan time zone

• Lebanon time zone

• Palestine time zone

• Egypt time zone

• UTC time converter

• Asia time zones