Some tzdata files like zoneinfo are manually stripped from some images, apparently as a brute-force way to decrease image size.

I believe this explains some of the history:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1668185

This results in java not picking up the --tz option. 

Can we add the tzdata of the host if it's missing in the container:

*Bind mount host /usr/share/zoneinfo/YOUR/TIMEZONE as /usr/share/zoneinfo/YOUR/TIMEZONE
*Create /etc/localtime as symlink just as now.

This would allow the --tz option to work, even if tzdata is not installed in the container (or is missing zoneinfo).

\\\\\ Steps to Reproduce /////
1) $ podman login
registry.redhat.io
$ vi Dockerfile-ubi9

~~~
FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/ubi
RUN dnf -y install java-11-openjdk-devel && \
echo 'public class ZonedHello { public static void main(String[] args)

{ System.out.println(java.time.ZonedDateTime.now()); } }' > ZonedHello.java && \
javac ZonedHello.java

CMD ["/bin/bash", "-c", "ls -la /etc/localtime && mount | grep zoneinfo || true && echo \"Now with default timezone:\" && date && echo \"Java default sees the following timezone:\" && java ZonedHello && echo \"Forcing UTC:\" && TZ=Etc/UTC date"]
~~~

$ docker build . --file Dockerfile-ubi9
...
--> 3417ba7cb445

$ podman run -ti --rm --tz=Europe/Berlin 3417ba7cb445
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 35 Dec 1 22:11 /etc/localtime -> ../usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin
Now with default timezone:
Fri Dec 1 22:11:36 CET 2023
Java default sees the following timezone:
2023-12-01T22:11:36.728863+01:00[Europe/Berlin]
Forcing UTC:
Fri Dec 1 21:11:36 UTC 2023

This shows java is picking up --tz=Europe/Berlin when the full tzdata package is installed.

2) $ vi Dockerfile-ub9i-openjdk17

~~~
FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/openjdk-17
RUN echo 'public class ZonedHello { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println(java.time.ZonedDateTime.now()); }

}' > ZonedHello.java && \
javac ZonedHello.java

CMD ["/bin/bash", "-c", "ls -la /etc/localtime && mount | grep zoneinfo || true && echo \"Now with default timezone:\" && date && echo \"Java default sees the following timezone:\" && java ZonedHello && echo \"Forcing UTC:\" && TZ=Etc/UTC date"]
~~~

$ docker build . --file Dockerfile-ubi9-openjdk17
...
--> 58d5382c7d5d

$ podman run -ti --rm --tz=Europe/Berlin 58d5382c7d5d

$ podman run -ti --rm --tz=Europe/Berlin 58d5382c7d5d
rw-rr-. 1 root root 2335 Dec 1 22:18 /etc/localtime
/bin/bash: line 1: mount: command not found
Now with default timezone:
Fri Dec 1 22:18:03 CET 2023
Java default sees the following timezone:
2023-12-01T21:18:03.964031456Z[GMT]
Forcing UTC:
Fri Dec 1 21:18:03 Etc 2023

This shows java is not picking up --tz=Europe/Berlin when the tzdata package is stipped of zoneinfo.