Public holidays in Israel

"Note: for exact dates in the Gregorian calendar see Jewish holidays 2000-2050."

Israeli law designates 9 days of official holiday during the year. Of these, Independence Day is supposed to be observed by all citizens, while others are Jewish religious holidays which non-Jews or non-Jewish communities may disregard, if they chose to observe their own religious holidays. School year has several optional formats approved by the Ministy of Education, one of which is chosen by the school principal considering the local community's religion and tradition. The following table shows school holidays observed by the majority of schools. Many businesses and government offices allow workers to chose additional one or two days of leave out of list of non-official holidays. Collective leave is also a common habbit in many businesses and government offices during Chol HaMoed. All holidays start on sunset, therefore working places close down afternoon on the holidays eve. Some services resume their work on the following evening, while most workers continue the holiday till morning.

Weekends in Israel are Friday to Saturday. The law designates 36 hours of weekly holiday from Friday afternoon till Sunday morning, but most businesses and offices are closed during the whole day on Fridays. Non-Jews may choose Friday, Saturday or Sunday as their main weekly holiday, while Jews may not choose to work on Saturday, unless their working place is open on Saturdays by a special permit.

ee also

*Jewish holiday