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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Israel

The list of Israel bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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19 Dec 2008 (Haaretz-Jerusalem) The date of the upcoming general elections in Israel have been set for Tuesday, February 10, 2009. As per the current legislation, all general elections are public holidays in Israel. • 16 Nov 2008 (The Jerusalem Post-Jerusalem) The Speaker of the Knesset (Israel's Parliament), Dalia Itzik, intends to soon convene a special session of the Knesset to pass legislation cancelling the public holiday on election day. • 08 Sep 2008 (The Jerusalem Post) The Knesset's Joint House and Law rejected the central election committee's demand that the upcoming national referendum's election day be a public holiday, due to the high costs for the Israeli economy. • 05 Sep 2008 (The Jerusalem Post) Yesterday, the House and Law committees of the Knesset (Israel's Parliament) approved a nationwide vacation day (public holiday) in the event that a national referendum is called on the transfer of the Golan Heights to Syria. A specific date for such a referendum has not yet been set. • 31 Jan 2008 (Israel News Network + Ynetnews) Yesterday, Israel's Parliament voted in favor of recognizing the Ethiopian Sigd festival as a national holiday in the State of Israel. The holiday will henceforth be celebrated on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Heshvan, and those observing it will, by law, be granted a vacation day. • 14 May 2007 (Arouts Sheva) The Knesset is set to vote on a proposal by the National Religious Party, which would make Sundays non-working days, while Fridays would become a normal working days. • 25 Mar 2007 (Private email from the Knesset) We now have an official confirmation that, in 2007, the date of Independence Day has been moved by one day, to Tuesday, April 24, 2007 (instead of Monday, April 23, 2007). • 20 Feb 2003 (Jerusalem Post) Knesset support for making Sunday a non-working day has dropped significantly since the National Religious Party-sponsored proposal was approved on first reading last year, mostly due to the worsening economic situation. • 10 Jul 2002 (Jerusalem Post) Despite government opposition, the Knesset approved the first reading of a bill, aimed at reducing religious-secular tensions, and that would make Sunday a non-working day, in addition to Saturday. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Israel public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

The Jewish day begins at sundown, on the Western date before any specified date. The dates shown here are for the dates during which stores and businesses are closed. • Start of Public Holidays: Officially, public holidays start, the sunset before and end the next day at sunset. Banks, businesses and public institutions are closed at these times. In most major cities many restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs and discotheques remain open. Most public transport ceases (other than in Haifa, Eilat and a few smaller localities), although taxi service is available. • The Shabbat (Sabbath, Saturday) is a day of rest in Israel, starting Friday night at sunset and ending Saturday night at sunset. • Banks: Banks are closed on Saturdays and on all Israeli public holidays. They are also closed during the afternoon.on Fridays and on the eve of the public holidays of Independence Day, Shavuot (Pentecost), First Day of Sukkot, as well as on the intermediate days of Pessah (Passover) and Sukkot (Harvest). • Banking hours vary from bank to bank and branch to branch. They are usually open in the mornings daily and late afternoons a few afternoons a week. • In addition, the Bank of Israel will be closed on the following days which are working days in other banking institutions: Eve of Pessah (Passover), Eve of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Eve of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). • The Ethiopian Sigd Festival was added to the list of Israel's Nationa holidays in 2008. The festival, celebrated for over 2,000 years by Jews in Ethiopia, symbolizes the renewal of the covenant with God and the Diaspora community's longing for Zion. Although it is not a full national public holiday, those observing it will be granted a vacation day by law. • Independence Day moves depending on the day of the week when it occurs. • Election Day: Due to the importance given to the democratic process in Israel, election days are akin to public holidays, with a general day off work, and free public transport for people who live some distance away from polling stations. • Hanukkah or Chanukah is not a public holiday in Israel. • Holocaust Remembrance Day or Yom HaShoah is celebrated in Israel, since 1959, on the 27th day of the month of Nisan of the Jewish calendar and is not to be confused with the United Nation's International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, established on November 1, 2005, and which occurs every year on the fixed date of January 27 . • Although New Year's Day according to the Gregorian calendar (January 1st) is not considered an official holiday, Israelis do tend to celebrate New Year’s Eve (December 31st) with much fanfare; as the civilian new year, free of any religious connotations. However, unless New Year’s Eve falls on a Thursday or Friday, people still need to go to work or school the next morning, as there is no day off for New Year’s Day (January 31st) in Israel. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Bank of Israel (Israel central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Israel, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Israel, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Israel, before planning any trip to Israel. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.