ISRAEL: Let there be dark!

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Thursday night, Tel Aviv was the first city of 24 around the world to turn off electric lights for one hour as part of the global earth hour effort to raise awareness about the need to act against global warming. The venture was kicked off atop the city’s Azrieli skyscraper by, among others, President Shimon Peres, who has embraced greenism and is promoting many environmental efforts. Israel should be at the front of global environmental campaigns, he said: ‘Everyone’s beginning to understand that this is not a children’s game.’

At 8 p.m. sharp, businesses and citizens lost their lights for one hour in Israel’s 24/7 city. Mayor Ron Huldai presided over the countdown until the Tel Aviv municipality building behind him went black. During the evening, about 40,000 people gathered in Rabin Square, where an Israeli band was giving a concert -- unplugged, of course. Putting to good use two local resources -- energetic Israelis and falafel -- the energy needed for stage lighting and sound came entirely from alternative sources. First, energy was generated by troops of peddling cyclists. Second, a generator supplied power with bio-diesel produced from distilled falafel oil. Elsewhere in town, restaurant patrons dined by candlelight and shoppers tried on clothes in semi-dark (which could have its own advantages). The electric company, monitoring things from its darkened situation-room, reported a satisfying cut in consumption for the hour and the Tel Aviv municipality declared the event a success.

Israel also moved the clock forward Thurday night, beginning the 191 days of daylight savings time that’s said to save Israeli households up to 25 million NIS in electricity expenses.

For all its sun, Israel’s stretch is among the shorter ones, somewhere between the 238 days in the United States and Egypt’s 154. Nearly every year involves a public debate between those advocating a longer period and the religious public, asking that the clock be set back before Yom Kippur, easing some of the strain of fasting, in which every hour counts. In the meanwhile, Israelis will have to wait for Oct. 5 to make up that lost hour of sleep.

— Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem