Shekel Exchange Rate Movement: Is Israel Driving the Trend?
The exchange rate of the US dollar, Jordanian dinar, and euro against the shekel in Israel, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank has been a topic of interest for Palestinians. However, upon closer examination, it appears that there is no single answer to this question.
There are multiple rates: the representative rate published by the Bank of Israel, buying and selling rates offered by Israeli banks, and cash exchange rates at exchange offices in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Palestinian reference indicators also play a role, including rates published by the Palestinian Monetary Authority and the Nablus Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) monitored the exchange rates of these currencies against the shekel from August 13 to 21, 2026. The goal was not only to find out where the dollar is sold for an agorot or two more but also to understand how the fundamental trend of the exchange rate appears and how it signals move from the reference market to the price that the citizen actually pays.
The observations indicate a complex picture than a simple linear transition model. The Israeli market appeared to be the most likely source for the fundamental trend of the shekel's movement. The representative rate of the Bank of Israel reflected this trend as an official reference, while the prices from Israeli banks clarified how this reference translates into executable buying and selling rates.
The same overall movement was seen in the cash exchange markets in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the final price was also affected by liquidity, availability of cash, local supply and demand, operational costs, and market conditions. The midpoint of non-cash banking transactions was often very close to the representative price of the Bank of Israel.
A comparison between East Jerusalem and the West Bank showed that despite some differences in buying and selling rates, their midpoints were often identical or only a half agorot apart. This suggests that the central values were very close and sometimes identical, indicating that exchanges in both markets operated around a nearly identical central value but within a wider buying and selling range in East Jerusalem.
The study did not find evidence of East Jerusalem independently determining the exchange rate and then transferring it to the West Bank. The findings suggest that the movement of the shekel's exchange rates is influenced by the Israeli market, with the Palestinian cash exchange markets responding quickly to changes in the fundamental trend.