Dollar Begins Rebound After Historic Slide

After nearly a year of steady decline against the shekel, the dollar has recorded two consecutive gains, raising the question of whether Israel’s foreign exchange market may be approaching a turning point.

The American currency has weakened sharply since June 2025, losing more than 20% of its value against the shekel. From a level of around NIS 3.60 at the beginning of last June, the dollar fell to a decades-low level of roughly NIS 2.80.

The plunge created major pressure on Israeli exporters, especially in the tech sector, where many companies earn revenue in dollars but pay salaries and expenses in shekels. A stronger shekel makes Israeli labor and operations more expensive in dollar terms, squeezing margins and pushing some companies to consider moving parts of their activity abroad.

Now, for the first time in a while, the dollar has shown signs of life. It first rose from its low point of NIS 2.80 to around NIS 2.82, and then climbed again to NIS 2.85.

That is not exactly a resurrection with trumpets and fireworks, but after a year in which the dollar mostly behaved like it had stepped on a rake, even two straight increases are enough to get attention.

The rise could provide some relief to exporters, high-tech firms and foreign investors, though it is still too early to declare a full trend reversal. The dollar remains far below where it stood a year ago, and the shekel is still historically strong.

The key question now is whether this is a temporary correction after a steep fall, or the beginning of a broader shift in currency markets. For now, the movement is modest, but after months of near-continuous dollar weakness, even a small rebound is being watched closely.