{"id":418595,"date":"2026-04-26T15:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/418595\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T15:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:21:11","slug":"brawny-shekel-threatens-to-knock-out-exporters-tech-firms-dependent-on-almighty-dollar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/418595\/","title":{"rendered":"Brawny shekel threatens to knock out exporters, tech firms dependent on almighty dollar"},"content":{"rendered":"

For over a century, Hanan Grebelsky\u2019s family-run business has quarried and cut Jerusalem limestone, providing iconic buildings in Israel and abroad \u2014 such as New York\u2019s Metropolitan Museum of Art \u2014 with chiseled stone facings, floors and more.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1923 by Grebelsky\u2019s grandfather Aharon, who immigrated to Israel from the Ukraine, A. Grebelsky & Son has weathered challenges from missile attacks to economic downturns while continuing to churn out blocks of stone for domestic consumption and export.<\/p>\n

But the rise of the shekel, which recently hit a 30-year-high<\/a> against the dollar, has created a \u201chuge strategic concern\u201d that outstrips those other challenges, according to Grebelsky, leaving him and many export-reliant businesses primarily paid in foreign currency struggling to stay afloat.<\/p>\n

\u201c[When] the country was at war it was imperative for us to show our customers that we are not stopping the machines,\u201d Grebelsky told The Times of Israel. \u201cBut the surge in the shekel, which is out of our hands, is making our products more expensive, and endangers our ability to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Grebelsky, unless the government intervenes, the company will have to begin downsizing or cutting production to make up for the shortfall.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m the third generation, and I really hope that I can at least give my kids the option to continue,\u201d said Grebelsky.<\/p>\n

The shekel last week fell below the exchange rate of NIS 3 to the greenback for the first time since 1995, hitting NIS 2.98.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAn exercise group stretches among ancient statues in the American wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on February 10, 2017, on a floor laid with Jerusalem stone provided by Israel-based A. Grebelsky and Son. (AP\/Mark Lennihan)<\/p>\n

The local currency has appreciated by almost 6 percent against the dollar so far in 2026, and about 20% over the past 12 months, despite an economy strained by military campaigns in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.<\/p>\n

The strengthening is driven by increased purchases of stocks in the Israeli market by local and foreign investors, global dollar weakness, and inflows of foreign investment into Israeli companies. The Tel Aviv-35 stock index has soared more than 21% since the start of the year, and the TA-125 rose about 18%, outperforming the 4.5% advance in the S&P 500 index during the same period.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a general sense, maybe not so much in the last month, but generally over the past year, that Israel\u2019s geopolitical situation has stabilized,\u201d said RISE Israel Institute chief economist Assaf Patir. \u201cSince the ceasefire in Gaza, a lot of anxiety about investing in Israel has subsided somewhat because of the economy\u2019s resilience, and investors are coming back to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tHanan Grebelsky stands in front of the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Exporters, along with many high-tech firms and multinational companies, earn their money chiefly outside of Israel, meaning they are paid in dollars. But they pay workers\u2019 salaries, overhead costs, taxes and other expenses in shekels.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery dollar that we make, we get less, as some 75% of our sales are to the US,\u201d said Grebelsky. \u201cAt the same time, all of our production and workers are in Israel; all our expenses are in shekels, while other costs in the global economy, including transportation, because of the oil crisis, have become more expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are squeezed between a weak dollar and high shekel expenses,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n

Grebelsky said that the shekel\u2019s fast appreciation, combined with US President Donald Trump\u2019s imposition of a 15%\u00a0tariff<\/a> on Israeli goods imported into the US, pose a serious threat to Israel\u2019s export sector and puts the country\u2019s economic growth at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe change in the shekel-dollar rate together with the tariffs has added 35% to the price of our products, which is impossible to compensate for and puts in danger our ability to compete in the market,\u201d said Grebelsky.<\/p>\n

About 50 employees work out of A. Grebelsky & Son\u2019s factory at the Har Tuv industrial zone near the central city of Beit Shemesh. Offering a variety of stone facings, veneers and tiles made from the tan stone quarried in the Jerusalem hills, the company\u2019s products can be seen from HBO\u2019s California offices to the AIPAC building in Washington, and in Israel at the National Library, the Supreme Court to the Western Wall Plaza.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA. Grebelsky & Son Jerusalem limestone factory at the Har Tuv industrial zone near Beit Shemesh. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Israeli exporters and manufacturers have warned that the double-digit appreciation in the shekel over the past year is a \u201cdeath blow\u201d to their profitability and threatens the closure of factories. Without government action, the continued rise in the local currency will have broader consequences, including reduced investments, layoffs, and a relocation of tech and multinational companies to cheaper markets abroad, they cautioned.<\/p>\n

If nothing is done to stem the continued strengthening of the shekel, Israeli exports will fall by NIS 31.5 billion ($10.5 billion) over the coming year, leading to a loss of NIS 3 billion in government tax revenues in 2026, according to estimates by the Israel Manufacturers\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

Exports make up as much as 40% of Israeli economic activity. In the first three months of the year, exports of goods dropped 5%, after declining 7.4% in 2025 in shekel terms, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data. Industrial exports, including mining and quarrying (excluding diamonds), decreased by 9% in the January to March period.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tIllustrative: New Israeli shekel bills, September 24, 2023. (Hadar Youavian\/ Flash90)<\/p>\n

\u201cAny business with exports, both traditional and the tech industry, which generates income in foreign currency and has expenses in shekels, is going to be harmed,\u201d said Patir. Tech companies mature enough to be generating revenue are making less money on sales to customers paying in dollars, while early-stage firms operating on runway costs from foreign investors were not able to stretch that funding as far as they may have planned, he noted.<\/p>\n

The tech industry, which contributes about a fifth of the local GDP, makes up more than 50% of total exports, and its employees generate a third of the country\u2019s tax revenue, according to data by the Israel Innovation Authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of revenues in Israel comes from income of large companies that employ more than 500 employees, which are either multinational corporations, or large Israeli companies like Wix or Monday.com,\u201d said Patir. \u201cThose revenues are immediately translated into taxes, and they are going to be hurt, and reduce government income.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA large billboard reading \u201cTogether we will win\u201d with the Israeli and US flag, seen on the deserted Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv during the war with Iran. March 4. 2026. (Miriam Alster\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the shekel is strong, the ability of multinationals and local tech companies to hire employees in Israel is going to go down,\u201d said Patir.<\/p>\n

There is a consensus among economists and currency traders that the strengthening of the shekel is expected to continue in the short term, especially if the ceasefires with Iran and Lebanon persist.<\/p>\n

Bank of Israel staying on sidelines<\/p>\n

With the government spending and borrowing heavily to pay for the war, it is eager to keep a lid on inflation. A strong shekel helps drive deflationary forces, making imports cheaper, keeping domestic prices lower and reducing credit costs for consumers.<\/p>\n

In the past, the Bank of Israel has intervened in the market by buying tens of billions of dollars to moderate the shekel\u2019s gains, or by cutting interest rates, but it has taken neither step this time, allowing the shekel to muscle up to help the government keep its head above water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing that the government needs to do is to control spending and increase revenue; that would also give the monetary authority some more leeway to act,\u201d said Patir. \u201cOne of the reasons that the Bank of Israel would be reluctant to intervene in the foreign currency market is because the deficit is high, and deficits are inflationary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tState-owned trade risk insurance agency Ashra CEO Dudy Klein. (Courtesy\/Ashra)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government could commit to a lower deficit that would put the Bank of Israel in a position to at least consider it,\u201d said Patir.<\/p>\n

Dudy Klein, CEO of Israel\u2019s government-owned foreign trade risks insurance company Ashra, said there has been a surge in demand by Israeli exporters for state-guaranteed financing packages that allow them to borrow money rather than raise prices for customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the shekel is strong, Israeli products become more expensive, and Israeli exporters are facing a lot of pressure from buyers to lower prices, and absorb the loss,\u201d said Klein. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to win a transaction when concentrating on the price, so the competition is transferring to who gives the best credit terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is when an Ashra product can be very crucial for an exporter winning a transaction by offering an attractive financial package of credit payments at low interest rates instead of cutting the price,\u201d said Klein.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAn electronic board displaying market data at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Tel Aviv, March 2, 2026. (Yehoshua Yosef\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Ashra was established in 1957 to boost exports from Israel by helping to minimize political and commercial risks of global trade.\u00a0Eligibility for state-guaranteed insurance and financing is conditional on at least 30% of the export deal having an Israeli component.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are Zionists, we want to work in Israel, and we are not looking to take our business abroad, but we are concerned that in the long term, we will lose business because our products will simply become too expensive for our customers to buy and our sales will drop,\u201d said Grebelsky.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need government assistance, either to help stem the surge in the shekel or help with expenses, such as municipal arnona [property]\u00a0 taxes, or assist[ing] exporters in marketing and buying new equipment, which can help us get through this challenging time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government, if they want to keep an industry like the building industry in Israel, they must provide more tools to keep us competitive, and we will fight to make it happen,\u201d said Grebelsky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For over a century, Hanan Grebelsky\u2019s family-run business has quarried and cut Jerusalem limestone, providing iconic buildings in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[97798,72,113,61845,61,60,180680,183348,183349],"class_list":{"0":"post-418595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-bank-of-israel","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-foreign-currency","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-israeli-economy","15":"tag-new-israeli-shekel","16":"tag-shekel-dollar-exchange-rate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}