The shekel-US dollar exchange rate has fallen below NIS 3/$ for the first time since October 1995 as the Israeli currency continues to strengthen. The Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar exchange rate down 0.166% this afternoon at NIS 3.014/$ and in late afternoon inter-bank trading the exchange rate was down a further 0.22% at NIS 2.9967/$.

Ayalon Insurance and Finance SVP and investment division director Tamir Hershkovitz told "Globes" before the war, "We have seen how much the Israeli economy and the shekel have emerged strengthened from significant events. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, the direction is clear - below NIS 3/$, and this will happen much faster than we think."

Prof. Leo Leiderman, head of the IREES Research Institute at the Peres Academic Center, chief economic advisor to Bank Hapoalim and former head of the research division at the Bank of Israel, even estimated on the eve of the war in Iran that this may be just the beginning. "One event could bring the shekel to a level of about NIS 2/$ - the fall of the regime in Iran. This situation would lead to massive capital flows to Israel, a sharp decrease in the risk premium, regional boom and investments on a historic scale."

The recent strengthening of the shekel is a reflection of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, but not only that. "The risk premium of the State of Israel is also declining," says First International Bank trading room manager Idit Moskovich. "The dollar is also weakening against the global currency basket, but with less force than the trend in the local market," she adds.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 15, 2026.

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