Minister Silvan Shalom continues push to make Sunday part of the weekend; proposes starting with one Sunday a month.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANTel Aviv beach(photo credit: Hadas Parush)
Negev and Galilee Development Minister Silvan Shalom came closer to achieving his goal of making Sunday a day off for workers this week, when a proposal to give one Sunday off a month as a pilot project advanced in a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office.The proposal will be presented to relevant cabinet ministries by a team led by Shalom’s director-general Orna Hozman- Bechor, Prime Minister’s Office director-general Harel Locker, and National Economic Council head Prof. Eugene Kandel.For instance, the Tourism Ministry will be told how long weekends could bolster the tourism industry in Israel and the Culture and Sport Ministry will consider moving soccer games from Saturday to Sunday so Orthodox players could participate.According to the proposal, the work day missed on Sunday will be made up by working six hours on the Friday before the long weekend and an extra half hour on other days. That way neither employers nor employees will lose money.Hozman-Bechor expressed confidence that the bill could pass in the cabinet and be implemented starting with the 2014-2015 school year. She said there is much more support for the proposal than in the previous government.“The train has left the station,” she said.
