MK Zevulun Kalfa
MK Zevulun KalfaIsrael news photo: Flash 90

MK Zevulun Kalfa (Bayit Yehudi) expressed upset Sunday over the Cabinet’s decision to approve a measure to extend Summer Time to the end of October.

The change will have a negative impact on manual laborers and on religious Jews, Kalfa argued.

“Extending the Summer Clock into winter is good for the relatively well-to-do workers, who leave for work at a later hour, but is likely to be harmful for manual laborers, who go to work early in the morning and will be forced to make their way in total darkness,” he argued.

“In addition, it’s likely to hurt mitzvah-observant Jews,” he warned. “At the end of October it will be possible to say the Shacharit [morning] prayers only from 6:45 a.m., sunrise, and extending the Summer Clock will force them to choose: prayer or work.”

He recommended that Summer Time be extended only until October 10, the last point at which sunrise is no later than 6:30 a.m.

The Knesset will hold a first vote Monday on proposed changes to the Summer Time system.