The Bank of Israel set the official exchange rate Wednesday at 3.443 shekels to the dollar, representing a half percent weakening of the shekel since Tuesday. The shekel this year has appreciated 13 percent against the dollar and has become one of the world's strongest currencies.

The local currency was weakened Wednesday by a move back toward the dollar, and by the possibility that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government may not survive in the wake of the current investigation concerning the possibility that he pocketed bribes from an American businessman.