Live
Time in Israel
Live, with the gap to the cities most people are calling from. The offsets are calculated in your browser rather than assumed, so they stay right through the daylight-saving weeks when Israel and your country have not switched together.
Israel's time zone
UTC+2 / UTC+3
standard time in winter, daylight time in summer
Gap to New York
7 hours
Israel ahead, outside the changeover weeks
Working week
Sun to Thu
Friday is a half day at most
Shabbat times
106 cities
candle lighting and havdalah
The clock
Right now in Israel, and in the eight cities people call from
Israel keeps one time zone from Metula to Eilat, so a single clock covers the whole country.
The week
The week runs Sunday to Thursday
This is the thing that catches out everyone doing business with Israel for the first time. Sunday is a full working day. Friday is a half day at most, and by early afternoon the country is winding down for Shabbat. If you are booking a meeting from abroad, Monday to Wednesday Israeli time is the safe window.
Shabbat itself starts at sundown on Friday and ends at nightfall on Saturday, so the exact hours move through the year: about 4pm in December, past 7pm in June. Shabbat times for 106 cities gives the precise minute for any week.
Sundown
The Israeli day turns over at sunset, not at midnight
Shabbat and every holiday begin the evening before the date printed on a civil calendar, so a Wednesday holiday empties the shops and the roads on Tuesday evening. The Hebrew month follows the moon, which is why those dates move against the Gregorian year.
The year
And the calendar runs on a different year
Israeli public life follows the Hebrew calendar for holidays, which is why the country closes for whole weeks in autumn and spring on dates that move every year against the Gregorian calendar. Check the holiday calendar before planning a trip or a deadline, and the date converter for any specific day.
Around the clock
What people check next
The three pages that answer the question behind the time difference: when to call, when the country stops, and what day it is in Hebrew.
Calendar
Jewish holidays
Every festival date with a countdown, this year and next, Israel and Diaspora.
Converter
Hebrew date converter
Any Gregorian date to its Hebrew date and back, plus today's date in both.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Israel in?+
Israel Standard Time, UTC+2, from late October to late March, and Israel Daylight Time, UTC+3, for the rest of the year. The clock above shows which one is currently in force.
When does Israel change its clocks?+
Israel moves to daylight saving on the Friday before the last Sunday in March, and back on the last Sunday in October. Those dates do not line up with the American changeover, so for two or three weeks each spring and autumn the gap to the United States is an hour off what you expect.
What is the time difference between Israel and New York?+
Seven hours most of the year, with Israel ahead. During the weeks when only one of the two countries has switched to daylight saving, it is six or eight hours instead. The panel above computes it live rather than assuming.
What is the working week in Israel?+
Sunday to Thursday, with Friday a short day. The weekend is Friday and Saturday, so an Israeli Sunday is a normal Monday. Scheduling a call for a Friday afternoon Israeli time rarely works.
Why do Israeli business hours feel early?+
Because the week is shifted and the day starts early: offices open around 8am and Friday effectively ends by lunchtime. Shabbat begins at sundown Friday and ends at nightfall Saturday, and shops, buses and much of the country stop for it.