Imports: $26.1 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Imports—commodities: raw materials, military equipment,
investment goods, rough diamonds, oil, consumer goods
Imports—partners: US 19%, Benelux 12%, Germany 9%, UK 8%, Italy
7%, Switzerland 6% (1997)
Debt—external: $18.7 billion (1997)
Economic aid—recipient: $1.241 billion (1994); note?$1.2 billion from the US (1997)
Currency: 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot
Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1—4.2269 (November 1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996), 3.0113 (1995), 3.0111 (1994)
Fiscal year: calendar year (since 1 January 1992)
Communications
Telephones: 2.6 million (1996)