What is the time zone of Israel?

Israel is in the Israel Time zone. All places including the capital Jerusalem have the same time, there are no exceptions. The country does observe daylight savings so there are two different clocks depending on the time of the year.

  • Israel Standard Time (IST): +2:00 UTC (ahead)
  • Israel Daylight Time (IDT): +3:00 UTC (ahead)
israel time zone map
middle east time zone map
Click to enlarge

Travel to neighboring provinces and countries

These are the times differences if you travel outside of Israel.

To Jordan: You will enter the Eastern European Time zone, but there is no time difference

To Lebanon: You will enter the Eastern European Time zone, but there is no time difference

To Syria: You will enter the Eastern European Time zone, but there is no time difference

To State of Palestine: You will enter the Eastern European Time zone, but there is no time difference

To Egypt: You will enter the Eastern European Time zone without any daylight savings change:

  • November to March: no time difference
  • March to October: -1:00 hour (behind)

Israel Daylight Savings Time (DST)

It starts on the last Friday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October. In March the clock is moved forward from 02.00 am to 03.00 am (so you will lose an hour of sleep during the night). While in October it’s reversed as the clock is moved backward from 02.00 am to 01.00 am and you will gain an extra hour of sleep. One way of remembering the movement sequence is that clocks “spring forward and fall back”.

Other Middle Eastern countries

You can check out information and maps of other Middle Eastern countries by clicking on the below links.

Eastern European Time & Israel Time Arabia Standard Time & Turkey Time Iran Standard Time Gulf Standard Time
Cyprus Bahrain Iran Oman
Egypt * Iraq United Arab Emirates
Israel Kuwait Abu Dhabi
Jordan Qatar Ajman
Lebanon Saudi Arabia Dubai
State of Palestine Turkey Fujairah
Syria Yemen Ras Al Khaimah
Sharjah
Umm Al Quwain
* no daylight savings