By Yael Pollak, Nathan Sheva and Yuval Maoz,
The United States Dollar continued to depreciate against the New Israeli Shekel Friday, pushing the representative currency exchange rate down another 0.88 percent to NIS 3.233 per U.S. Dollar. This is an over 11-year low - the last time the greenback saw these levels was January 1997.
The Euro also lost ground against the Shekel, and the European currency's representative rate fell a steep 1.356 percent Friday to NIS 5.0048 per Euro, dropping it to a 5-year low against the shekel - its lowest level since January 2003.
Since the begining of 2008, the Shekel has gained 15% against the U.S. Dollar, and slightly more against the British pound and the Canadian Dollar.  
It is up 8% versus the Swedish Kroner and has picked up 24% against the South African Rand.
A week ago the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Triche, praised the euro to the Wall Street Journal, saying the European currency would provide price stability in the medium-term.
The Euro is certainly a strong and important currency, and has been flexing its muscles against the Dollar in recent years.
But even the powerful Euro has had a hard time competing with what has become probably the strongest currency in the world since the beginning of 2008: the Israeli Shekel.
The figures speak for themselves: Since the start of the year, the Shekel has strengthened against the euro by 9%.
Even compared to the currencies of countries rich in natural resources and raw materials, such as Australia and Canada, it has done well.
One opinion is that the shekel will continue to gain in the next few months against the dollar and euro, at least until the November elections.
The real question is, which elections - those in America or maybe those here in Israel?
Original Source