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National Security Council Director Meir Ben-Shabbat will have to decide on the postponement of the start of Daylight Saving Time which was recommended by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Sunday.
Deri initiated the postponement of Daylight Saving Time, which was scheduled to begin overnight Thursday this week, in order to reduce the number of Israelis staying outside during the additional hours of daylight and thus reduce the risk of infection during the coronavirus pandemic.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has given the green light to the move, but the Government Communications Authority and the headquarters of the "Digital Israel" organization noted that the date of transition between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time is defined in the operating systems of servers, computers, communications equipment and even cell phones.
In order to change the date of the time change, operating system manufacturers must produce a patch, distribute it, and then install the update on every server, computer, and phone on government systems as well as on the computers of many in the economy. A server update involves many working days and cannot be completed until Thursday night, on which Daylight Saving Time is scheduled to go into effect.
The Government Communications Authority and “Digital Israel” further stated that in a situation where some computers work in different time zones, malfunctions and disabling of complete computing arrays may occur. In addition, many absences in the private sector will make the change difficult.
In light of this, and due to the importance of postponing Daylight Saving Time due to the urgency of people staying indoors, Minister Deri turned to Ben-Shabbat to find a solution to the situation that was created.