Jerusalem, 4 May, 2026 (TPS-IL) — The Bank of Israel reported that, in the first quarter of 2026, the Shekel strengthened by approximately 0.8% vis-à-vis the US dollar and by about 2.9% against the Euro.
In addition, the shekel strengthened by about 1.9% against the currencies of Israel’s main trading partners, in terms of the nominal effective exchange rate (i.e., the trade-weighted average Shekel Exchange rate against those currencies).
During the first quarter, the US Dollar strengthened against most of the major currencies, including by about 1.6% against the Canadian Dollar and about by 1.8% against the British Pound.
The average actual standard deviation of changes in the Shekel/Dollar exchange rate, which represents its actual volatility, increased by 0.3 percentage points during the quarter, to an average level of 8.4%. The increase in actual volatility came against the background of Operation Roaring Lion (Israel’s campaign against Iran), which contributed to the increase in market volatility.
Nonresidents increased their net foreign exchange purchases to about $6.6 billion, compared with $1.8 billion in the previous quarter. The institutional investors—pension funds, provident funds, and insurance companies—continued to make net foreign exchange sales, totaling about $5.2 billion during the quarter, compared with sales of about $13.2 billion in the previous quarter.
The business sector moved to net foreign exchange sales, totaling about $1.4 billion in the first quarter, compared to purchases of about $5.6 billion in the previous quarter. The financial sector (mainly the banks) made net foreign exchange sales totaling about $0.2 billion in the first quarter, compared with purchases of about $0.9 billion in the previous quarter.