1.
Old Israeli shekel
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The old Shekel, known at the time as the Shekel was the currency of the State of Israel between 24 February 1980 and 31 December 1985. It was replaced by the Israeli New Shekel at a ratio of 1000,1 on 1 January 1986, the old Shekel was short-lived due to its hyperinflation. The old Shekel was subdivided into 100 New Agorot, the shekel sign was, although it was more commonly denominated as S or IS. The Israeli Shekel replaced the Israeli pound which was used until 24 February 1980, development of a new currency to be known as the Shekel was approved by the Israeli Knesset on 4 June 1969. The governors of the Bank of Israel did not consider the time ripe until November 1977, the Shekel and New Agora were declared legal tender on 22 February 1980 and went into circulation two days later. Initial denominations were IS1,5,10, and 50, but over the five years inflation led to another five, IS100,500,1000,5000. New coin and bill designs were selected through competitions among graphic designers, beginning with the IS500 issue, the size of the notes were standardized and the denominations differentiated by color and design. A transparent part was added to discourage counterfeiting and signs for the blind were added, the New Israeli Shekel replaced the shekel following its hyperinflation. It became the currency of Israel on 4 September 1985, removing three zeros from the old notes, presently, the old Shekel is no longer in circulation and is not regarded as legal tender by the Bank of Israel. The initial series of coins in 1980 were for the denominations of 1,5 and these preserved the appearance of the similar coins under the pound but were worth 10 times as much. The initial run were struck at mints in order to preserve the secrecy of the coming currency conversion. IS1 coins were introduced in 1981, IS5 and 10 coins in 1982, and IS50 and 100 coins in 1984. The 1 and 5 New Agorot coins were aluminum, the 10 New Agorot and IS ½,1, and 100 coins cupronickel, the IS5 and 50 coins an alloy of copper, aluminum, and nickel, and the IS10 cupro-aluminum. The initial series of banknotes in 1980 were for the denominations of IS1,5,10, subsequent issues added the denominations of IS100,500,1000,5000, and 10 000. Bank of Israel Economy of Israel Bank of Israel catalog of Israeli currency since 1948
2.
Israeli pound
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Until 1952, the name used on the notes of the Anglo-Palestine Bank was Palestine pound, in Hebrew לירה אי. In Arabic, the name was given as junayh filisţīnī, in 1952, the Anglo-Palestine Bank changed its name to Bank Leumi Le-Yisrael and the currency name became, lira yisraelit in Hebrew, junayh isrāīlī in Arabic, and Israel pound in English. From 1955, after the Bank of Israel was established and took over the duty of issuing banknotes, only the Hebrew name was used, banknotes in circulation were issued by the Palestine Currency Board, which was subject to the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. Israel inherited the Palestine pound but, shortly after the establishment of the state, the new coins were the first to bear the new states name, while the banknotes said The Anglo-Palestine Bank Limited. While the first coins minted by Israel still bore the name mil, a second series of banknotes was issued after the Anglo-Palestine Bank moved its headquarters to Tel Aviv and changed its name to Bank Leumi. The pegging to the UK Pound was abolished on January 1,1954, and in 1960, the sub-division of the pound was changed from 1000 prutot to 100 agorot. During the 1960s, a debate over the name of the Israeli currency resulted in a law ordering the Minister of Finance to change the name pound into a Hebrew name. The law allowed the minister to decide on a date for the change. The law did not come into effect until February 1980, when the Israeli government decided to change the monetary system, israels first coins were aluminium 25 mil pieces, dated 1948 and 1949, which were issued in 1949 before the adoption of the pruta. Later in 1949, coins were issued in denominations of 1,5,10,25,50,100 and 250 prutah, the coins were conceived, in part, by Israeli graphic designer Otte Wallish. In 1960, coins were issued denominated in agora, there were 1,5,10 and 25 agorot pieces. In 1963, 1/2 and 1 pound coins were introduced, followed by 5 lirot coins in 1978, in 1948, the government issued fractional notes for 50 and 100 mils. The Anglo-Palestine Bank issued banknotes for 500 mils,1,5,10 and 50 lirot between 1948 and 1951, in 1952, the government issued a second series of fractional notes for 50 and 100 prutah with 250 prutah notes added in 1953. Also in 1952, the Bank Leumi Le-Israel took over paper money production, the Bank of Israel began note production in 1955, also issuing notes for 500 pruta,1,5,10 and 50 lirot. In 1968,100 lirot notes were introduced, followed by 500 lirot notes in 1975, in the third banknote issuing, released between 1973 and 1975, a feature was added for use in identifying denomination by visually impaired and blind people. Bank of Israel Economy of Israel Paul Kor Bank of Israel catalogue of Israeli currency since 1948 Israeli Lirah coins with pictures
3.
Shekel
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Shekel is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency. Initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley and this shekel was about 180 grains. Since 1980, the shekel has been the main unit in Israel. The Hebrew word shekel is based on the root for weighing, cognate to the Akkadian šiqlu or siqlu. Use of the word was first attested in c.2150 BC during the Akkadian Empire under the reign of Naram-Sin, and later in c.1700 BC in the Code of Hammurabi. The ŠQL root is found in the Hebrew words for to weigh, weight and consideration, and is related to the TQL root in Aramaic and the ΘQL root in Arabic, such as the words thiqal or Mithqal. The famous writing on the wall in the Biblical Book of Daniel includes a use of the word in Aramaic, Mene, mene, teqel. The word shekel came into the English language via the Hebrew Bible, the earliest shekels were a unit of weight, used as other units such as grams and troy ounces for trading before the advent of coins. Coins were used and may have been invented by the early Anatolian traders who stamped their marks to avoid weighing each time used. Herodotus states that the first coinage was issued by Croesus, King of Lydia, spreading to the golden Daric, issued by the Persian Empire, early coins were money stamped with an official seal to certify their weight. Silver ingots, some with markings were issued, later authorities decided who designed coins. As with many ancient units, the shekel had a variety of values depending on era, government and region, the shekel was common among western Semitic peoples. Moabites, Edomites, and Phoenicians used the shekel, although proper coinage developed very late, Carthaginian coinage was based on the shekel and may have preceded its home town of Tyre in issuing proper coins.87 grams.3 grams. The Carthaginian or Punic shekel was typically around 7.2 grams in silver and 7.5 grams in gold and they were apparently first developed on Sicily during the mid-4th century BC. The Tyrian shekel began to be issued c. 300 BC, owing to the relative purity of their silver, they were the preferred medium of payment for the Temple tax in Jerusalem despite their royal and pagan imagery. The Jerusalem shekel was issued from AD66 to 70 amid the First Jewish Revolt as a means of emphasizing the independence of Judaea from Roman rule, the Bar Kochba shekel was issued from AD132 to 135 amid the Bar Kokhba Revolt for similar reasons. The Israeli shekel replaced the Israeli lira or pound in 1980 and its currency sign was ⟨⟩, although it was more commonly denominated as S or IS. It was subdivided into 100 new agoras or agorot and it suffered from hyperinflation and was quickly replaced
4.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
5.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
6.
ISO 4217
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The ISO4217 code list is used in banking and business globally. ISO4217 codes are used on tickets and international train tickets to remove any ambiguity about the price. The first two letters of the code are the two letters of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself, so Japans currency code is JPY—JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the dollar, franc, peso and pound being used in dozens of different countries. Also, if a currency is revalued, the currency codes last letter is changed to distinguish it from the old currency. Other changes can be seen, however, the Russian ruble, for example, changed from RUR to RUB and these currency units are denominated as one troy ounce of the specified metal as opposed to USD1 or EUR1. The code XTS is reserved for use in testing, the code XXX is used to denote a transaction involving no currency. There are also codes specifying certain monetary instruments used in international finance, the codes for most supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO. The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU, the use of an initial letter X for these purposes is facilitated by the ISO3166 rule that no official country code beginning with X will ever be assigned. Because of this rule ISO4217 can use X codes without risk of clashing with a country code. ISO3166 country codes beginning with X are used for private custom use, consequently, ISO4217 can use X codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes. The inclusion of EU in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list, the ISO4217 standard includes a crude mechanism for expressing the relationship between a major currency unit and its corresponding minor currency unit. This mechanism is called the exponent and assumes a base of 10. For example, USD is equal to 100 of its currency unit the cent. So the USD has exponent 2, the code JPY is given the exponent 0, because its minor unit, the sen, although nominally valued at 1/100 of a yen, is of such negligible value that it is no longer used. Usually, as with the USD, the currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but in some cases 1/1000 is used. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya equal to 5 khoums, some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all and these are given an exponent of 0, as with currencies whose minor units are unused due to negligible value. There is also a code number assigned to each currency
7.
Mina (unit)
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The mina is an ancient Near Eastern unit of weight, which was divided into 50 shekels. The mina, like the shekel, was also a unit of currency, in ancient Greece, it originally equalled 70 drachmae and later was increased to 100 drachmae. The Greek word mna was borrowed from Semitic, compare Hebrew māneh, Aramaic mĕnē, Syriac manyā, Ugaritic mn, however, before it was used as currency, a mina was a unit of measurement, equal to 1.25 pounds. From earliest Sumerian times, a mina was a unit of weight, at first, talents and shekels had not yet been introduced. By the time of Ur-Nammu, the mina had a value of 1/60 talents as well as 60 shekels, the value of the mina is calculated at 1.25 pounds or 0.571 kilograms per mina. Evidence from Ugarit indicates that a mina was equivalent to fifty shekels, the prophet Ezekiel refers to a mina as sixty shekels, in the Book of Ezekiel. Jesus of Nazareth tells the parable of the minas in Luke 19, from the Akkadian period,2 mina was equal to 1 sila of water. The price for a slave in Plautus Pseudolus was 20 minæ, one mina being, according to the commentator, in the first century AD, it amounted to about a fourth of the wages earned annually by an agricultural worker
8.
Israeli agora
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The agora is a denomination of the currency of Israel. The Israeli currency – the new Israeli shekel – is divided into 100 agorot, the name agora actually refers to three kinds of currencies that were used in Israel throughout its history, all of them have been subdivisions of the main currency units. This name was used for the first time in 1960, when the Israeli government decided to change the subdivision of the Israeli lira from 1000 prutot to 100 agorot. In 1980 the Israeli lira was abolished and replaced by the shekel at a rate of 10 IP per 1 shekel, the new subdivision of the shekel was named agora ħadasha. There were 100 new agorot in 1 shekel, the high rate of inflation in Israel in the early 1980s forced the Israeli government to change the Israeli currency once again in 1985. The new shekel was introduced at a rate of 1000 S per 1 NS, the name agora was used once again for its subdivision. This time the new was avoided, in order to prevent confusion with the older subdivision. Currently, the term refers to the 100th part of the new shekel. There are coins of 10 and 50 agorot, though the 50 agorot coin bears the inscription, ½ New Shekel. A coin of 1 agora was in use until April 1,1991 and this was due to the costs spent on its production which considerably exceeded the coins value. Today, when paying in cash, the price must be rounded to the nearest multiple of 10 agorot, when buying several items, the rounding is done for the total sum. There is no rounding when paying with cheques, credit cards or bank orders,10 agorot controversy Bank of Israel catalogue of Israeli currency since 1948 Israeli Agora coins with pictures
9.
Currency symbol
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A currency symbol is a graphic symbol used as a shorthand for a currencys name, especially in reference to amounts of money. The European Commission considers the global recognition of the euro sign € part of its success, in 2009, India launched a public competition to replace the ₨ ligature it shared with neighbouring countries. It finalised its new symbol, ₹ on 15 July 2010. It is a blend of the Latin letter R with the Devanagari letter र, when writing currency amounts the location of the symbol varies by currency. Many currencies in the English-speaking world and Latin America, place it before the amount, the Cape Verdean escudo places its symbol in the decimal separator position. The usage of many European countries, such as France, Germany, the decimal separator also follows local countries standards. For instance, the United Kingdom often uses an interpunct as the point on price stickers. Commas or decimal points are common separators used in other countries, see decimal separator for information on international standards. Older currency symbols have evolved slowly, often from previous currencies, the dollar and peso symbols originated from the mark employed to denote the Spanish real de a ocho, whereas the pound and lira symbols evolved from an L standing for libra, a Roman pound of silver. Newly invented currencies and currencies adopting new symbols have symbolism closer to their adopter, the added center bar in the real sign is meant to symbolize stability. The new Indian rupee symbol, ₹, is a combination of Latin. There are also considerations, such as the perception of the business community. For a new symbol to be used, software to render it needs to be promulgated, the EU was criticized for not considering how the euro symbol would need to be customized to work in different fonts. The original design was exceptionally wide. These two factors have led to most typefaces employing customized, font-specific versions, usually with reduced width, List of currencies List of circulating currencies Currency Symbols
10.
Shekel sign
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The shekel sign is a currency sign used for the Israeli new shekel, which is the currency of the State of Israel. The Israeli new shekel is denoted in Hebrew, שקל חדש or by the acronym Hebrew, the symbol was announced officially on 22 September 1985, when the first new shekel banknotes and coins were introduced. It is constructed by combining the two Hebrew letters that constitute the acronym, ש and ח, sometimes the ₪ symbol is used following the number, other times the acronym Hebrew, ש״ח. The shekel sign, like the dollar sign, is placed left of the number, but since Hebrew is written from right to left. It is either not separated from the number, or is separated only by a thin space. Unlike the dollar sign, the new sign is not used that often when handwriting monetary amounts. The road sign announcing the entrance to an Israeli toll road, the symbol has the Unicode code point U+20AA ₪ New Sheqel Sign. It has been found in Unicode since June 1993, version 1.1.0, according to the standard Hebrew keyboard it must be typed as AltGr-A. It can be typed into Microsoft Windows on a standard Hebrew keyboard layout by pressing AltGr and 4, the Shekel sign, however, is not drawn on most keyboards sold in Israel and the sign is rarely used in day-to-day typing. On a Ubuntu system it can be entered by holding down Ctrl+Shift+u, releasing, in Mac OS X it can be typed as Shift+7 when the system is set to a Hebrew keyboard layout. The old Israeli shekel, in circulation between 1980–1985, had a different symbol, which was announced on 18 March 1980. It was a stylized Shin shaped like a cradle, before the introduction of the old shekel in 1980, there was no special symbol for the Israeli currency. This symbol appeared on checks issued by Israeli banks between 1980 and 1985, quoting prices in new shekels started officially on January 1,1986, and the old shekel checks remaining unused had to be stamped with The New Shekel symbol over the old symbol. Israeli shekel Israeli agora Currency sign
11.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
12.
Palestinian National Authority
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Following elections in 2006 and the subsequent Gaza conflict between the Fatah and Hamas parties, its authority had extended only in areas A and B of the West Bank. Since January 2013, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority uses the name State of Palestine on official documents, the Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994, pursuant to the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the government of Israel, as a five-year interim body. Further negotiations were then meant to place between the two parties regarding its final status. The remainder of the territories, including Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley region, East Jerusalem was excluded from the Accords. In the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, Hamas emerged victorious, however, the national unity Palestinian government effectively collapsed, when a violent conflict between Hamas and Fatah erupted, mainly in the Gaza Strip. The move wasnt recognized by Hamas, thus resulting in two separate administrations – the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and a rival Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. The reconciliation process to unite the Palestinian governments achieved some progress over the years, the PA received financial assistance from the European Union and the United States. All direct aid was suspended on 7 April 2006, as a result of the Hamas victory in parliamentary elections, shortly thereafter, aid payments resumed, but were channeled directly to the offices of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. In November 2012, the United Nations voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member UN observer state, the Palestinian Authority was created by the Gaza–Jericho Agreement, pursuant to the 1993 Oslo Accords. The administrative responsibilities accorded to the PA were limited to civil matters and internal security, Palestinians in the diaspora and inside Israel were not eligible to vote in elections for the offices of the Palestinian Authority. General elections were held for its first legislative body, the Palestinian Legislative Council, the expiration of the bodys term was 4 May 1999, but elections were not held because of the prevailing coercive situation. Bush stated that the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005 was unlikely due to instability and we will give the Palestinian Authority technical help by sending equipment, training people. We will give the Palestinian Authority helicopters and also communication equipment, the Palestinian Authority became responsible for civil administration in some rural areas, as well as security in the major cities of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This increased the percentage of land in the Gaza Strip nominally governed by the PA from 60 percent to 100 percent, Palestinian legislative elections took place on 25 January 2006. Hamas was victorious and Ismail Haniyeh was nominated as Prime Minister on 16 February 2006, Hamas rejected these demands, which resulted in the Quartet suspension of its foreign assistance program and Israel imposed economic sanctions. In an attempt to resolve the financial and diplomatic impasse, the Hamas-led government together with Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas agreed to form a unity government, as a result, Haniyeh resigned on 15 February 2007 as part of the agreement. The unity government was formed on 18 March 2007 under Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and consisted of members from Hamas, Fatah and other parties. The situation in the Gaza strip however quickly deteriorated into a feud between the Hamas and Fatah, which eventually resulted in the Brothers War
13.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
14.
Bank of Israel
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The Bank of Israel is the central bank of Israel. It is located in Kiryat HaMemshala in Jerusalem, with an office in Tel Aviv. The current governor is Karnit Flug, the first female Governor of the Bank of Israel, when Israel was granted independence in 1948, the power of note issuance was vested with the Anglo-Palestine Bank, which was refounded as Bank Leumi in 1950. Monetary policy and banking supervision remained controlled by the Ministry of Finance, control over foreign currency exchange was not given to the bank until 1978. Additionally, the Bank manages the Foreign Exchange Reserves, in 2010, the Bank of Israel was ranked first among central banks for its efficient functioning, according to IMDs World Competitiveness Yearbook. In March 2010, the Knesset approved a new Bank of Israel Law which took effect on June 1,2010, the new law defines the goals of the bank and gives the bank independence in determining its policy tools and the way of implementing them. The law changes the framework in which decisions are made in the Bank of Israel. Decisions regarding the rate of interest and monetary policy in general will be made by a Monetary Committee and this brings the Bank of Israel more in line with the decision making procedures of other financial institutions. David Horowitz, 1954–1971 Moshe Sanbar, 1971–1976 Arnon Gafni, 1976–1981 Moshe Mendelbaum, 1982–1986 Michael Bruno, the Israeli Central Bank, Political Economy, Global Logics and Local Actors, Routledge
15.
Currency
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A currency in the most specific use of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money in common use, under this definition, US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, and European euros are examples of currency. These various currencies are recognized stores of value and are traded between nations in exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are defined by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance, other definitions of the term currency are discussed in their respective synonymous articles banknote, coin, and money. The latter definition, pertaining to the systems of nations, is the topic of this article. Currencies can be classified into two systems, fiat money and commodity money, depending on what guarantees the value. Some currencies are legal tender in certain jurisdictions, which means they cannot be refused as payment for debt. Others are simply traded for their economic value, digital currency has arisen with the popularity of computers and the Internet. Currency evolved from two basic innovations, both of which had occurred by 2000 BC, originally money was a form of receipt, representing grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, then Ancient Egypt. In this first stage of currency, metals were used as symbols to represent value stored in the form of commodities and this formed the basis of trade in the Fertile Crescent for over 1500 years. Trade could only reach as far as the credibility of that military and it is not known what was used as a currency for these exchanges, but it is thought that ox-hide shaped ingots of copper, produced in Cyprus, may have functioned as a currency. It is thought that the increase in piracy and raiding associated with the Bronze Age collapse, possibly produced by the Peoples of the Sea, brought the trading system of oxhide ingots to an end. In Africa, many forms of value store have been used, including beads, ingots, ivory, various forms of weapons, livestock, the manilla currency, the manilla rings of West Africa were one of the currencies used from the 15th century onwards to sell slaves. African currency is still notable for its variety, and in many various forms of barter still apply. These factors led to the metal itself being the store of value, first silver, now we have copper coins and other non-precious metals as coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins and this was to assure the individual taking the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but they created a new unit of account. Most major economies using coinage had several tiers of coins, using a mix of copper, silver, gold coins were used for large purchases, payment of the military and backing of state activities, they were more often used as measures of account than physical coins
16.
Palestinian territories
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Palestinian territories and occupied Palestinian territories are descriptions often used to describe the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are occupied or otherwise under the control of Israel. Israeli governments have maintained that the area involved is within territorial dispute, the extent of the territories, while subject to future negotiations, have frequently been defined by the Green Line. In December 2012, UN Secretariat communications replaced this by the term State of Palestine, the ISO adopted the name change in 2013. But, as of August 2015, the UN Security Council continues to treat Palestine as a non-sovereign entity, Israel occupied the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War of 1967 and has since maintained control. Previously, these territories had been occupied by Jordan and Egypt, respectively, in 1980, Israel officially absorbed East Jerusalem and has proclaimed the whole of Jerusalem to be its capital. The inclusion, though never formally amounting to legal annexation, was condemned internationally and declared null, the Palestinian National Authority never exercised sovereignty over the area, although it housed its offices in Orient House and several other buildings as an assertion of its sovereign interests. Israel shut them down in response to the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing, Israeli sovereignty, however, has not been recognized by any country, since the unilateral annexation of territory occupied during war contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention. The cost of the occupation for Israel over four decades is estimated to amount to $50 billion, the World Bank estimates the annual cost in 2013 to the Palestinian economy of Israeli occupation at $3.4 billion. In 1988, with the Palestine Liberation Organization intention to declare a Palestinian State, Jordan renounced all claims to the West Bank. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988,135 UN Member Nations have recognized the State of Palestine and it has not been recognized by Israel and some Western nations, including the United States. In 1993, following the Oslo Accords, parts of the territories politically came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority, Israel still exercises full military control and, civil control over 61% of the West Bank. The Oslo Accords established access to the sea for Gaza within 20 nautical miles from the shore, the Berlin Commitment of 2002 reduced this to 12 miles. In October 2006 Israel imposed a 6-mile limit, and at the conclusion of the Gaza War restricted access to a 3-nautical-mile limit, as a result, more than 3,000 Palestinian fishermen are denied access to 85% of the maritime areas agreed to in 1995. The majority of the Dead Sea area is off-limits to Palestinian use, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005, however the international community considers the West Bank and the Gaza Strip still to be occupied by Israel. The Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 divided the Palestinian territories politically, abbass Fatah largely ruled the West Bank and was recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority. In 2014, the two groups agreed to hold elections and form a compromise unity government. The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict intervened, however, the unity government survived, there are disagreements over what the Palestinian territories should be called. Other terms used to describe these areas include the disputed territories
17.
West Bank
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The West Bank shares boundaries to the west, north, and south with Israel, and to the east, across the Jordan River, with Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant section of the western Dead Sea shore, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has a land area of 5,640 km2 plus a water area of 220 km2, consisting of the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea. As of July 2015 it has an population of 2,785,366 Palestinians, and approximately 371,000 Israeli settlers. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law and this annexation was recognized only by Britain, Iraq and Pakistan. The term was chosen to differentiate the west bank of the River Jordan from the east bank of this river, the neo-Latin name Cisjordan or Cis-Jordan is the usual name for the territory in the Romance languages and Hungarian. The name West Bank, however, has become the standard usage for this entity in English. The analogous Transjordan has historically used to designate the region now roughly comprising the state of Jordan. From 1517 through 1917, the now known as the West Bank was under Ottoman rule as part of the provinces of Syria. At the 1920 San Remo conference, the victorious Allied powers allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine, the San Remo Resolution adopted on 25 April 1920 incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It and Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations were the basic documents upon which the British Mandate for Palestine was constructed. Faced with the determination of Emir Abdullah to unify Arab lands under the Hashemite banner, the West Bank area, was conquered by Jordan during the 1948 war with the new state of Israel. In 1947, it was designated as part of a proposed Arab state by the United Nations partition plan for Palestine. 1949 Armistice Agreements defined the boundary between Israel and Jordan. In 1950, Transjordan annexed the area west of the Jordan River, naming it West Bank or Cisjordan, Jordan ruled over the West Bank from 1948 until 1967. Jordans annexation was never recognized by the international community, with the exception of the United Kingdom. King Abdullah of Jordan had been crowned King of Jerusalem by the Coptic Bishop on 15 November 1948. and granted Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank, in June 1967, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were captured by Israel as a result of the Six-Day War. With the exception of East Jerusalem and the former Israeli-Jordanian no mans land, the Israeli settlements were, on the other hand, administered subsequently as Judea and Samaria Area directly by Israel. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority officially controls a geographically non-contiguous territory comprising approx, 11% of the West Bank which remains subject to Israeli incursions
18.
Gaza Strip
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Gaza, together with the West Bank, comprise the Palestinian territories claimed by the Palestinians as the State of Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory, both fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006. It has been placed under an Israeli and U. S. -led international economic, the territory is 41 kilometers long, and from 6 to 12 kilometers wide, with a total area of 365 square kilometers. With around 1.85 million Palestinians on some 362 square kilometers, an extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gazas Palestinians. Gaza has a population growth rate of 2. 91%, the 13th highest in the world. The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020, by that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable, if present trends continue. Due to the Israeli and Egyptian border closures and the Israeli sea and air blockade, Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. Israel maintains direct control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza, it controls Gazas air and maritime space. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military, Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities. When Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election,2006, Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, when this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Palestinian Authority instituted a non-Hamas government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza. Further economic sanctions were imposed by Israel and the European Quartet against Hamas, a brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when, apparently under a U. S. -backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas’s administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PAs security apparatus from the Strip, since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people. Israel maintains direct control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza, it controls Gazas air and maritime space. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military, Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities. The Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan, in July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government
19.
Hyperinflation
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Certain figures in this article use scientific notation for readability. The population normally switches to holding relatively stable foreign currencies, under such conditions, the general price level within an economy increases rapidly as the official currency quickly loses real value. The value of economic items remains relatively stable in terms of foreign currencies, typically, however, the general price level rises even more rapidly than the money supply as people try ridding themselves of the devaluing currency as quickly as possible. As this scenario happens, the stock of money decreases. The mainstream narrative is that hyperinflations are usually caused by large persistent government deficits financed primarily by money creation, as such, hyperinflation is often associated with wars, their aftermath, sociopolitical upheavals, or other crises that make it difficult for the government to tax the population. A sharp decrease in tax revenue coupled with a strong need to maintain the status quo, together with an inability or unwillingness to borrow. The mainstream assumptions of how hyperinflation is caused has been challenged by advocates of Modern Monetary Theory who sustain that government spending alone cannot cause hyperinflation. They claim that hyperinflation is usually the result of a collapse in the supply chain which is then unable to meet the demand generated by government spending. In 1956, Phillip Cagan wrote The Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation, economists usually follow Cagan’s description that hyperinflation occurs when the monthly inflation rate exceeds 50%. The International Accounting Standards Board has issued guidance on accounting rules in a hyperinflationary environment and it does not establish an absolute rule on when hyperinflation arises. Instead, it lists factors that indicate the existence of hyperinflation, there are a number of theories on the causes of high and/or hyper inflation. But nearly all hyperinflations have been caused by government budget deficits financed by money creation, after an analysis of 29 hyperinflations Bernholz concludes that at least 25 of them have been caused in this way. Moreover, a condition for hyperinflation has been the existence of fiat money not convertible at a fixed parity into gold or silver. The French hyperinflation also took place after the introduction of a non convertible paper money, the price increases that result from the rapid money creation creates a vicious circle, requiring ever growing amounts of new money creation to fund government deficits. Hence both monetary inflation and price inflation proceed at a rapid pace, such rapidly increasing prices cause widespread unwillingness of the local population to hold the local currency as it rapidly loses its buying power. Instead they quickly spend any money they receive, which increases the velocity of money flow and this means that the increase in the price level is greater than that of the money supply. The real stock of money, M/P, decreases, here M refers to the money stock and P to the price level. This results in an imbalance between the supply and demand for the money, causing rapid inflation, very high inflation rates can result in a loss of confidence in the currency, similar to a bank run
20.
Hebrew alphabet
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Historically, there have been two separate abjad scripts to write Hebrew. In the remainder of this article, the term Hebrew alphabet refers to the Jewish square script unless otherwise indicated, the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. It does not have case, but five letters have different forms used at the end of a word. Hebrew is written right to left. Originally, the alphabet was an abjad consisting only of consonants, as with other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, scribes later devised means of indicating vowel sounds by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In both biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, the letters א ה ו י are also used as matres lectionis to represent vowels. There is a trend in modern Modern Hebrew toward the use of matres lectionis to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, the paleo-Hebrew alphabet was used in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Samaritans, who remained in the Land of Israel, continued to use the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, after the fall of the Persian Empire in 330 BCE, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Assyrian form. The square Hebrew alphabet was adapted and used for writing languages of the Jewish diaspora – such as Karaim, the Judeo-Arabic languages, Judaeo-Spanish. In the traditional form, the Hebrew alphabet is an abjad consisting only of consonants and it has 22 letters, five of which use different forms at the end of a word. Also, a system of points to indicate vowels, called niqqud, was developed. In modern forms of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish and to some extent Modern Hebrew, today, the trend is toward full spelling with the weak letters acting as true vowels. When used to write Yiddish, vowels are indicated, using letters, either with or without niqqud-diacritics, except for Hebrew words. To preserve the proper vowel sounds, scholars developed several different sets of vocalization, one of these, the Tiberian system, eventually prevailed. Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, and his family for generations, are credited for refining and maintaining the system. These points are used only for special purposes, such as Biblical books intended for study. The Tiberian system also includes a set of marks, called trope. These are shown below the normal form in the following table, although Hebrew is read and written from right to left, the following table shows the letters in order from left to right
21.
Shin (letter)
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Shin is the name of the twenty-first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Shin, Hebrew Shin ש, Aramaic Shin, Syriac Shin ܫ, and Arabic Shin ش. Its sound value is a sibilant, or. The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Sigma, and the letter Sha in the Glagolitic and Cyrillic scripts, the South Arabian and Ethiopian letter Śawt is also cognate. The Phoenician šin letter expressed the continuants of two Proto-Semitic phonemes, and may have based on a pictogram of a tooth. The Encyclopaedia Judaica,1972, records that it represented a composite bow. The history of the letters expressing sibilants in the various Semitic alphabets is somewhat complicated, a letter variant س sīn takes the place of Samekh at 15th position. Šīn represents /ʃ/, and is the 13th letter of the modern alphabet order and is written thus, in the transcription into Spanish, the Greek letter chi was used which was later transcribed into Latin x. According to some sources, this is the origin of x used for the unknown in the equations, however, according to other sources, there is no historical evidence for this. In Modern Arabic mathematical notation, س sīn, i. e. šīn without its dots, in Aramaic, where the use of shin is well-determined, the orthography of sin was never fully resolved. To express an etymological /ś/, a number of dialects chose either sin or samek exclusively, for example, Regardless of how it is written, /ś/ in spoken Aramaic seems to have universally resolved to /s/. The Hebrew letter represents two different phonemes, a sibilant /s/, like English sour, and a /ʃ/, like English shoe, the two are distinguished by a dot above the left-hand side of the letter for /s/ and above the right-hand side for /ʃ/. In the biblical name Issachar only, the second letter is always written without any dot. This is because the second sin/shin is always silent, in gematria, Shin represents the number 300. Shin, as a prefix, bears the meaning as the relative pronouns that, which. In colloquial Hebrew, Kaph and Shin together have the meaning of when and this is a contraction of כּאשר, kaasher. Shin is also one of the seven letters which receive special crowns when written in a Sefer Torah, see Gimmel, Ayin, Teth, Nun, Zayin, and Tzadi. From this episode we get the English word shibboleth, Shin also stands for the word Shaddai, a name for God. Because of this, a forms the letter Shin with his hands as he recites the Priestly Blessing
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Heth
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Ḥet or H̱et is the eighth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Ḥēt, Hebrew Ḥēt ח, Aramaic Ḥēth, Syriac Ḥēṯ ܚ, and Arabic Ḥā ح. Heth originally represented a voiceless fricative, either pharyngeal /ħ/, or velar /x/, in Arabic, two corresponding letters were created for both phonemic sounds, unmodified ḥāʾ ح represents /ħ/, while ḫāʾ خ represents /x/. The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Eta Η, Etruscan, Latin H, while H is a consonant in the Latin alphabet, the Greek and Cyrillic equivalents represent vowel sounds. The letter shape ultimately goes back to a hieroglyph for courtyard, the Modern Hebrew word for courtyard is Hatzer. While the name goes back to ḫayt, the name reconstructed for a letter derived from a hieroglyph for thread. The corresponding South Arabian letters are ḥ and ḫ, corresponding to Geez Ḥauṭ ሐ, the letter is named حاء ḥāʾ and is the sixth letter of the alphabet. Its shape varies depending on its position in the word, This letter used to two letters, the second being خḫāʾ. In Arabic, ḥāʾ is similar to the English, but it is much raspier, IPA, in Persian, it is, like ⟨ﻫ⟩ and the English h. In more rare phonologies, it is pronounced as a voiceless fricative and is still among Mizrahim. Ḥet is one of the few Hebrew consonants that can take a vowel at the end of a word and this occurs when patach gnuva comes under the Ḥet at the end of the word. The combination is then pronounced /-aχ/ rather than /-χa/, Ḥet, along with Aleph, Ayin, Resh, and He, cannot receive a dagesh. As pharyngeal fricatives are difficult for most English speakers to pronounce, thus challah, pronounced by native Hebrew speakers as /χala/ or /ħala/ is pronounced /halə/ by most English speakers, who cannot often perceive the difference between and. In gematria, Ḥet represents the number eight, in chat rooms, online forums, and social networking the letter Ḥet repeated denotes laughter, just as in english, in the saying Haha. Ħ, ħ, Latin letter H with stroke
23.
History of ancient Israel and Judah
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Israel and Judah were related Iron Age kingdoms of the ancient Levant. The Kingdom of Israel emerged as an important local power by the 10th century BCE before falling to the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722 BCE and this, the last nominally independent Judean kingdom, came to an end in 63 BCE with its conquest by Pompey of Rome. East of the plain and the Shephelah is a ridge, the hill country of Judah in the south, the hill country of Ephraim north of that, then Galilee. To the east again lie the valley occupied by the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and the wadi of the Arabah. Beyond the plateau is the Syrian desert, separating the Levant from Mesopotamia, to the southwest is Egypt, to the northeast Mesopotamia. The location and geographical characteristics of the narrow Levant made the area a battleground among the entities that surrounded it. Politically and culturally it was dominated by Egypt, each city under its own ruler, constantly at odds with its neighbours, and appealing to the Egyptians to adjudicate their differences. The Canaanite city-state system broke down at the end of the Late Bronze period, the name Israel first appears in the stele of the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah c.1209 BCE, Israel is laid waste and his seed is no more. In the Late Bronze Age there were no more than about 25 villages in the highlands, the villages were more numerous and larger in the north, and probably shared the highlands with pastoral nomads, who left no remains. Other Aramaean sites also demonstrate a contemporary absence of pig remains at that time, unlike earlier Canaanite, in The Bible Unearthed, Finkelstein and Silberman summarised recent studies. They described how, up until 1967, the Israelite heartland in the highlands of western Palestine was virtually an archaeological terra incognita, since then, intensive surveys have examined the traditional territories of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. These surveys have revealed the emergence of a new culture contrasting with the Philistine. This new culture is characterised by a lack of remains, by an abandonment of the Philistine/Canaanite custom of having highly decorated pottery. The Israelite ethnic identity had originated, not from the Exodus and a subsequent conquest and these surveys revolutionized the study of early Israel. There was no sign of violent invasion or even the infiltration of a clearly defined ethnic group, instead, it seemed to be a revolution in lifestyle. From then on, over a period of hundreds of years until after the return of the exiles from Babylon, after the period of Ezra there is no more biblical record of them. The Hebrew language, a dialect of Canaanite, became the language of the hill country, modern scholars therefore see Israel arising peacefully and internally from existing people in the highlands of Canaan. Unusually favourable climatic conditions in the first two centuries of Iron Age II brought about an expansion of population, settlements and trade throughout the region
24.
Grain (unit)
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A grain is a unit of measurement of mass, and, for the troy grain, equal to exactly 7001647989100000000♠64.79891 milligrams. It is nominally based upon the mass of a seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat, rather, expressions such as thirty-two grains of wheat, taken from the middle of the ear appear to have been ritualistic formulas, essentially the premodern equivalent of legal boilerplate. Another book states that Captain Henry Kater, of the British Standards Commission, the grain was the legal foundation of traditional English weight systems, and is the only unit that is equal throughout the troy, avoirdupois, and apothecaries systems of mass. The unit was based on the weight of a grain of barley. The fundamental unit of the pre-1527 English weight system known as Tower weights, was a different sort of known as the wheat grain. The Tower wheat grain was defined as exactly 45⁄64 of a troy grain.79891 milligrams, 7000100000000000000♠1 gram is approximately 7001154323600000000♠15.43236 grains. The unit formerly used by jewellers to measure pearls, diamonds, or other stones, called the jewellers grain or pearl grain, is equal to 1⁄4 of a carat. The grain was also the name of a traditional French unit equal to 6995531150000000000♠53.115 mg. In both British Imperial and U. S. customary units, there are precisely 7,000 grains per avoirdupois pound, the grain is commonly used to measure the mass of bullets and propellants. The term also refers to a particle of gunpowder, the size of which varies according to requirements. In archery, the grain is the unit used to weigh arrows. In dentistry, gold foil, used as a material to restore teeth, is measured in grains, in North America, the hardness of water is often measured in grains per US gallon of calcium carbonate equivalents. Otherwise, water hardness is measured in the metric unit parts per million, one grain per US gallon is approximately 6995171000000000000♠17.1 ppm. Soft water contains 1–4 gpg of calcium carbonate equivalents, while hard water contains 11–20 gpg, though no longer recommended, grains are still used occasionally in medicine as part of the apothecaries system, especially in prescriptions for older medicines such as aspirin or phenobarbital. For example, the dosage of a standard 6996325000000000000♠325 mg tablet of aspirin is sometimes given as 7000500000000000000♠5 grains, in that example the grain is approximated to 6995650000000000000♠65 mg, though the grain can also be approximated to 6995600000000000000♠60 mg, depending on the medication and manufacturer. The apothecaries system has its own system of notation, in which the symbol or abbreviation is followed by the quantity in lower case Roman numerals. For amounts less than one, the quantity is written as a fraction, or for one half, therefore, a prescription for tablets containing 325 mg of aspirin and 30 mg of codeine can be written ASA gr
25.
Gram
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The gram is a metric system unit of mass. Originally defined as the weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre. The only unit symbol for gram that is recognised by the International System of Units is g following the numeric value with a space, the SI does not support the use of abbreviations such as gr, gm or Gm. The word gramme was adopted by the French National Convention in its 1795 decree revising the system as replacing the gravet introduced in 1793. Its definition remained that of the weight of a centimetre of water. French gramme was taken from the Late Latin term gramma and this word, ultimately from Greek γράμμα letter had adopted a specialised meaning in Late Antiquity of one twenty-fourth part of an ounce, corresponding to about 1.14 grams. This use of the term is found in the carmen de ponderibus et mensuris composed around 400 AD, the gram was the fundamental unit of mass in the 19th-century centimetre–gram–second system of units. The gram is today the most widely used unit of measurement for non-liquid ingredients in cooking and grocery shopping worldwide. 1 gram =15.4323583529 grains 1 grain =0.06479891 grams 1 avoirdupois ounce =28.349523125 grams 1 troy ounce =31.1034768 grams 100 grams =3.527396195 ounces 1 gram =5 carats 1 gram =8. 1 gram is roughly equal to 1 small paper clip or pen cap, the Japanese 1 yen coin has a mass of one gram. Conversion of units Duella Gold gram Orders of magnitude Gram at Encyclopædia Britannica
26.
Troy weight
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Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals and gemstones. One troy ounce equals 31.1034768 grams exactly, there are only 12 troy ounces per troy pound, rather than the 16 ounces per pound found in the more common avoirdupois system. However, the pound has 7000 grains whereas the troy pound has only 5760 grains. Both systems use the same grain defined by the international yard, therefore the troy ounce is 480 grains, compared with the avoirdupois ounce, which is 437.5 grains. So the troy ounce is about 10% heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, although troy ounces are still used to weigh gold, silver, and gemstones, troy weight is no longer used in most other applications. One troy ounce of gold is denoted with the ISO4217 currency code XAU, troy weight probably takes its name from the French market town of Troyes in France where English merchants traded at least as early as the early 9th century. The name troy is first attested in 1390, describing the weight of a platter, the word troni refers to markets. Watson finds the dialect word troi, meaning a balance in Wrights Dialect Dictionary, troy weight referred to the tower system, the earliest reference to the modern troy weights is in 1414. Many aspects of the weight system were indirectly derived from the Roman monetary system. The Romans used bronze bars of varying weights as currency, an aes grave weighed 1 pound. One twelfth of an aes grave was called an uncia, or in English an ounce, before the adoption of the metric system, many systems of troy weights were in use in various parts of Europe, among them Holland troy, Paris troy, etc. Their values varied from one another by up to several percentage points, troy weights were first used in England in the 15th century, and were made official for gold and silver in 1527. The British Imperial system of weights and measures was established in 1824, the troy ounce in use today is essentially the same as the British Imperial troy ounce, adopted as an official weight standard for United States coinage by Act of Congress on May 19,1828. The British Imperial troy ounce was based on, and virtually identical with, the pre-1824 British troy ounce, the English troy ounce was officially adopted for coinage in 1527. Troy ounces have been used in England since about 1400, before that, various sorts of troy ounces were in use on the continent. The troy ounce and grain were also part of the apothecaries system and this was long used in medicine, but has now been largely replaced by the metric system. The only troy weight in widespread use today is the British Imperial troy ounce, both are currently based on a grain of 0.06479891 gram, with 480 grains to a troy ounce. The British Empire abolished the 12-ounce troy pound in the 19th century, the origin of the troy weight system is unknown
27.
Bank Leumi
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Bank Leumi is an Israeli bank. Today, Bank Leumi is Israels largest bank, with offices in Luxembourg, USA, Switzerland, the UK, Mexico, Uruguay, Romania, Jersey. Though nationalized in 1981, now Bank Leumi is mainly in private hands, with the government as the largest single shareholder, the other major shareholders are Shlomo Eliyahu and Branea Invest, which each hold 10% of the stock, constituting the control core of the bank. Sixty percent of the stocks are held by the public. At the time, Zionists did not feel there was any taint to being identified with colonialism. The banks activities in Palestine were carried out by the Anglo-Palestine Bank, the bank opened its first branch in Jaffa in 1903 under the management of Zalman David Levontin. Early transactions included land purchase, imports and obtaining concessions, branches were opened in Jerusalem, Beirut, Hebron, Safed, Haifa, Tiberias and Gaza. The Anglo-Palestine Bank offered farmers long-term loans and provided loans to the Ahuzat Bayit association which built the first neighborhood in Tel Aviv. During World War I, the Ottoman government declared the bank, because it was registered in England, to be an institution and moved to shut it down. After World War I, its operations expanded, in 1932, the main branch moved from Jaffa to Jerusalem. During World War II, the Anglo-Palestine Bank helped to finance the establishment of industries that manufactured supplies for the British army, after the founding of the state of Israel, the bank won the concession to issue new banknotes. In 1950, the bank was renamed Bank Leumi Le-Israel, when the Bank of Israel was established in 1954, Bank Leumi became a commercial bank. In 1971, Bank Leumi acquired Arab Israel Bank, which serves mainly the Arab Citizens of Israel in the north of the country, ai Bank has 35 branches located in Israels northern and Triangle regions. The Government of Israel nationalized Bank Leumi in 1983, as a result of the Bank Stock Crisis, in 2011, Bank Leumi acquired Geneva-based Banque Safdie SA for CHF 143m. Bank Leumi merged Banque Safdie with Bank Leumi Switzerland Ltd to form Leumi Private Bank in early 2012, Leumi closed its representative office in Melbourne, Australia in October 2013 In July 2014, Bank Julius Baer announced that it had purchased the private banking assets of Bank Leumi. Baer bought Bank Leumi S. A. Leumis private bank in Luxembourg, the main branch of Bank Leumi on Jaffa Road, Jerusalem, built during the British Mandate by the German Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn, has been declared a landmark building. Another branch of Bank Leumi on the corner of Ramban Street in Jerusalems Rehavia neighborhood and it was built in 1935 as a private home, and was renovated in 2007 to restore the original facade. The bank paid a fine of million and turned over more than 1,500 names of its U. S. account holders
28.
Palestine pound
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It was divided into 1000 mils. The Palestine pound was also the currency of Transjordan until 1949, until 1918, Ottoman Levant was an integral part of the Ottoman Empire and therefore used its currency, the Ottoman lira. Following the institution of the British Mandate for Palestine, the Egyptian pound also circulated alongside the Ottoman lira until 1927 and this created an unsatisfactory situation which required a currency reform. The Palestine pound was introduced by the British, equal in value to the pound sterling and it was also adopted in Cyprus in 1955, where the Palestinian pound had briefly been introduced as legal tender, following a currency shortage in 1943. The Palestine pound was also declared a legal tender in the Transjordan Emirate, the body which governed the issue of the currency was the Palestine Currency Board, which was subject to the British Colonial Office. The Currency Board was dissolved in May 1948, as the British Mandate ended, in Israel, there was a transitional period of four years between the end of the British Mandate and the adoption of a fully independent currency system. Between 1948 and 1952, the Palestine pound continued to be a legal tender, in August 1948, new banknotes were issued by the Anglo Palestine Company, owned by the Jewish Agency and based in London. In Jordan, the Palestine pound was replaced by the Jordanian dinar in 1949, in 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank, and the Palestine pound continued to circulate there until 1950. The Jordanian dinar is still tender in the West Bank along with the Israeli shekel. In the Gaza Strip, the Palestine pound circulated until April 1951, today, Gaza Strip inhabitants mostly use the Israeli shekel. In the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was debarred from issuing its own currency, in practice, prices in the Palestinian territories are quoted in Israeli currency. There was a report that the Palestinian authorities were considering issuing new banknotes and this, however, never came to fruition. In 1927, coins were introduced in denominations of 1,2,5,10,20,50 and 100 mils. The 1 and 2 mils were struck in bronze, whilst the 5,10 and 20 mils were holed, cupro-nickel coins, except for during World War II, the 50 and 100 mils coins were struck in.720 silver. All the denominations were trilingual in Arabic, English and Hebrew, the Hebrew inscription includes the initials Alef Yud after Palestina, for Eretz Yisrael. The last coins were issued for circulation in 1946, with all 1947 dated coins being melted down, on 1 November 1927, banknotes were introduced by the Palestine Currency Board in denominations of 500 mils,1,5,10,50 and 100 pounds. Notes were issued with dates as late as 15 August 1945, the 100 pound note was equivalent to 40 months’ wages of a skilled worker in Palestine. Currently six of them are unaccounted for and four are known to exist in the hand of collectors
29.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
30.
Banknote
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A banknote is a type of negotiable instrument known as a promissory note, made by a bank, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by banks, who were legally required to redeem the notes for legal tender when presented to the chief cashier of the originating bank. These commercial banknotes only traded at face value in the served by the issuing bank. Commercial banknotes have primarily been replaced by national banknotes issued by central banks, national banknotes are generally legal tender, meaning that medium of payment is allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Historically, banks sought to ensure that they could always pay customers in coins when they presented banknotes for payment and this practice of backing notes with something of substance is the basis for the history of central banks backing their currencies in gold or silver. Today, most national currencies have no backing in precious metals or commodities and have value only by fiat, with the exception of non-circulating high-value or precious metal issues, coins are used for lower valued monetary units, while banknotes are used for higher values. The idea of using a durable light-weight substance as evidence of a promise to pay a bearer on demand originated in China during the Han Dynasty in 118 BC, the first known banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty, as merchants, during the Yuan Dynasty, banknotes were adopted by the Mongol Empire. In Europe, the concept of banknotes was first introduced during the 13th century by such as Marco Polo. Counterfeiting, the forgery of banknotes, is an inherent challenge in issuing currency and it is countered by anticounterfeiting measures in the printing of banknotes. Fighting the counterfeiting of banknotes and cheques has been a driver of security printing methods development in recent centuries. Paper currency first developed in the Tang Dynasty China during the 7th century, although true paper money did not appear until the 11th century, the usage of paper currency later spread throughout the Mongol Empire. European explorers like Marco Polo introduced the concept in Europe during the 13th century, napoleon issued paper banknotes in the early 1800s. Paper money originated in two forms, drafts, which are receipts for value held on account, and bills, the perception of banknotes as money has evolved over time. Originally, money was based on precious metals, Banknotes were seen as essentially an I. O. U. or promissory note, a promise to pay someone in precious metal on presentation. With the gradual removal of precious metals from the system, banknotes evolved to represent credit money. Notes or bills were referred to in 18th century novels and were often a key part of the plot such as a note drawn by Lord X for £100 which becomes due in 3 months time. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty, as merchants, before the use of paper, the Chinese used coins that were circular, with a rectangular hole in the middle
31.
Israeli pruta
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The Pruta was a denomination of currency in Israel prior to 1960. The pruta was introduced shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel and it replaced the mil, which was the 1000th part of the Palestine pound, a currency issued by the British Mandate of Palestine prior to May 1948. The word Pruta was borrowed from Mishnaic Hebrew, in which it meant a coin of smaller value and this word was probably derived originally from an Aramaic word with the same meaning. The Pruta was abolished in 1960 when the Israeli government decided to change the subdivision of the Israeli pound into 100 agorot and this move was necessary due to the constant devaluation of the Israeli pound, which rendered coins smaller than 10 prutot redundant. This pruta should not be confused with the halachic pruta, which is the value of money for a variety of halachic applications. Among them, the value one is obligated to return if stolen, the minimal value needed to effect a marriage
32.
Cabinet of Israel
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The Government of Israel exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister, the composition of the government must be approved by a vote of confidence in the Knesset. Under Israeli law, the minister may dismiss members of the government, but must do so in writing. Most ministers lead ministries, though some are ministers without portfolio, most ministers are members of the Knesset, though only the Prime Minister and the designated acting prime minister are required to be Knesset members. Some ministers are also called deputy and vice prime ministers, unlike the designated acting prime minister, these roles have no statutory meanings. The government operates in accordance with the Basic Law and it meets on Sundays weekly in Jerusalem. There may be additional meetings if circumstances require it, the prime minister convenes these meetings. The body discussed in this article is referred to in Israeli official documents as the Government of Israel and this is in accordance to the normal translation of its Hebrew name. Another term in use is the Kitchen Cabinet, a collection of senior officials and it was formed as the Peoples Administration on 12 April 1948, in preparation for independence just over a month later. All its thirteen members were taken from Moetzet HaAm, the legislative body set up at the same time. This government has 21 ministers and seven deputy ministers, deri resigned his post as economy minister reportedly in protest of a gas monopoly deal. Netanyahu took the portfolio himself and promised to speed up the deal, Basic Law, The Government List of female cabinet ministers of Israel Current and past cabinets—Knesset website Basic Law, The Government —Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
33.
Balance of payments
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These transactions are made by individuals, firms and government bodies. Thus the balance of payments includes all external visible and non-visible transactions of a country and it is an important issue to be studied, especially in international financial management field, for a few reasons. First, the balance of payments provides detailed information concerning the demand, for example, if the United States imports more than it exports, then this means that the supply of dollars is likely to exceed the demand in the foreign exchanging market, ceteris paribus. One can thus infer that the U. S. dollar would be pressure to depreciate against other currencies. On the other hand, if the United States exports more than it imports, second, a countrys balance-of-payment data may signal its potential as a business partner for the rest of the world. If a country is grappling with a major balance-of-payment difficulty, it may not be able to expand imports from the outside world, instead, the country may be tempted to impose measures to restrict imports and discourage capital outflows in order to improve the balance-of-payment situation. Third, balance-of-payments data can be used to evaluate the performance of the country in international economic competition, suppose a country is experiencing trade deficits year after year. This trade data may signal that the countrys domestic industries lack international competitiveness. To interpret balance-of-payments data properly, it is necessary to understand how the balance of payments account is constructed and these transactions include payments for the countrys exports and imports of goods, services, financial capital, and financial transfers. It is prepared in a currency, typically the domestic currency for the country concerned. Sources of funds for a nation, such as exports or the receipts of loans, uses of funds, such as for imports or to invest in foreign countries, are recorded as negative or deficit items. When all components of the BoP accounts are included they must sum to zero with no overall surplus or deficit, imbalances in the latter sum can result in surplus countries accumulating wealth, while deficit nations become increasingly indebted. The term balance of payments often refers to sum, a countrys balance of payments is said to be in surplus by a specific amount if sources of funds exceed uses of funds by that amount. There is said to be a balance of payments deficit if the former are less than the latter, a BoP surplus is accompanied by an accumulation of foreign exchange reserves by the central bank. Then the net change per year in the banks foreign exchange reserves is sometimes called the balance of payments surplus or deficit. Alternatives to an exchange rate system include a managed float where some changes of exchange rates are allowed. The current account shows the net amount a country is earning if it is in surplus and it is the sum of the balance of trade, factor income and cash transfers. It is called the current account as it covers transactions in the here, the capital account records the net change in ownership of foreign assets
34.
Current account
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In economics, a countrys current account is one of the two components of its balance of payments, the other being the capital account. The current account consists of the balance of trade, net income or factor income and net cash transfers. The current account balance is one of two measures of a countrys foreign trade. A current account surplus indicates that the value of a countrys net foreign assets grew over the period in question, both government and private payments are included in the calculation. It is called the current account because goods and services are consumed in the current period. The current account is an important indicator about an economys health and it is defined as the sum of the balance of trade, net income from abroad and net current transfers. A current account surplus increases a nations net foreign assets by the amount of the surplus, a country is said to have a trade surplus if its exports exceed its imports, and a trade deficit if its imports exceed its exports. Positive net sales abroad generally contributes to a current account surplus, in the net factor income or income account, income payments are outflows, and income receipts are inflows. Income are receipts from investments made abroad and money sent by individuals working abroad, known as remittances, if the income account is negative, the country is paying more than it is taking in interest, dividends, etc. From the capital account, economists and central banks determine implied rates of return on the different types of capital, the United States, for example, gleans a substantially larger rate of return from foreign capital than foreigners do from owning United States capital. In the traditional accounting of balance of payments, the current account equals the change in net foreign assets, a current account deficit implies a paralleled reduction of the net foreign assets. Current account = changes in net foreign assets, if an economy is running a current account deficit, it is absorbing more than that it is producing. This can only happen if some other economies are lending their savings to it or the economy is running down its foreign assets such as foreign currency reserve. On the other hand, if an economy is running a current account surplus it is absorbing less than that it is producing, as the economy is open, this saving is being invested abroad and thus foreign assets are being created. Normally, the current account is calculated by adding up the 4 components of current account, goods, services, income, goods Being movable and physical in nature, goods are often traded by countries all over the world. When a transaction of certain goods ownership from a country to a foreign country takes place. The other way around, when a goods owner changes to an inhabitant from a foreigner, is defined to be an import. In calculating current account, exports are marked as credit and imports as debit, services When an intangible service is used by a foreigner in a local land and the local resident receives the money from a foreigner, this is also counted as an export, thus a credit
35.
Derivative (finance)
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In finance, a derivative is a contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, some of the more common derivatives include forwards, futures, options, swaps, and variations of these such as synthetic collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps. Most derivatives are traded over-the-counter or on a such as the Bombay Stock Exchange. Derivatives are one of the three categories of financial instruments, the other two being stocks and debt. More recent historical origin is Bucket shop that were outlawed a century ago, Derivatives are contracts between two parties that specify conditions under which payments are to be made between the parties. The assets include commodities, stocks, bonds, interest rates and currencies, but they can also be other derivatives, from the economic point of view, financial derivatives are cash flows, that are conditioned stochastically and discounted to present value. The market risk inherent in the asset is attached to the financial derivative through contractual agreements. The underlying asset does not have to be acquired, Derivatives therefore allow the breakup of ownership and participation in the market value of an asset. This also provides an amount of freedom regarding the contract design. That contractual freedom allows to modify the participation in the performance of the underlying asset almost arbitrarily, thus, the participation in the market value of the underlying can be effectively weaker, stronger, or implemented as inverse. Hence, specifically the price risk of the underlying asset can be controlled in almost every situation. Derivatives are more common in the era, but their origins trace back several centuries. One of the oldest derivatives is rice futures, which have traded on the Dojima Rice Exchange since the eighteenth century. Derivatives are broadly categorized by the relationship between the asset and the derivative, the type of underlying asset, the market in which they trade. Derivatives may broadly be categorized as lock or option products, lock products obligate the contractual parties to the terms over the life of the contract. Option products provide the buyer the right, but not the obligation to enter the contract under the terms specified, Derivatives can be used either for risk management or for speculation. Along with many financial products and services, derivatives reform is an element of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform. The Act delegated many rule-making details of regulatory oversight to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, however, these are notional values, and some economists say that this value greatly exaggerates the market value and the true credit risk faced by the parties involved
36.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
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The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is an American financial and commodity derivative exchange based in Chicago and located at 20 S. Wacker Drive. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, originally, the exchange was a non-profit organization. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CME Group is Terrence A. Duffy, Bryan Durkin is President, on August 18,2008, shareholders approved a merger with the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX. The Merc, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX are now owned by the CME Group. Today, CME is the largest options and futures contracts open interest of any exchange in the world. The Merc trades several types of instruments, interest rates, equities, currencies. It also offers trading in alternative investments, such as weather, as a Designated Self-Regulatory Organization, the CME had primary regulatory-audit authority over firms such as MF Global. Trading is conducted in two methods, an open format and the CME Globex electronic trading platform. Approximately 90 percent of volume at the exchange occurs electronically on Globex. Operating during regular trading hours, the open outcry method consists of floor traders standing in a pit to call out orders, prices. Different colored jackets are worn by the traders to indicate what firm they are a part of, in addition, complex hand signals are used. These hand signals were first used in the 1970s, today, however, headsets are also used by the brokers to communicate with the traders. The pits are areas of the floor that are lowered to facilitate communication, the pits can be raised and lowered depending on trading volume. To an onlooker, the open system can look chaotic and confusing. An illustrated project to record the hand signal language used in CMEs trading pits has been compiled, operating virtually around the clock, today the CME Globex trading system is at the heart of CME. Proposed in 1987, it was introduced in 1992 as the first global electronic trading platform for futures contracts and this fully electronic trading system allows market participants to trade from booths at the exchange or while sitting in a home or office thousands of miles away. On 19 October 2004, the one billionth transaction was recorded, when Globex was first launched, it used Reuters technology and network. September 1998 saw the launch of the generation of Globex using a modified version of the NSC trading system
37.
Futures contract
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In finance, a futures contract is a standardized forward contract which can be easily traded between parties other than the two initial parties to the contract. The parties initially agree to buy and sell an asset for an agreed upon today, with delivery and payment occurring at a future point. Because it is a function of an asset, a futures contract is a derivative product. Contracts are negotiated at futures exchanges, which act as a marketplace between buyers and sellers, the buyer of a contract is said to be long position holder, and the selling party is said to be short position holder. For example, in gold trading, the margin varies between 2% and 20% depending on the volatility of the spot market. The first futures contracts were negotiated for agricultural commodities, and later contracts were negotiated for natural resources such as oil. The original use of futures contracts was to mitigate the risk of price or exchange rate movements by allowing parties to fix prices or rates in advance for future transactions. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first-ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts in 1864, by 1875 cotton futures were being traded in Bombay in India and within a few years this had expanded to futures on edible oilseeds complex, raw jute and jute goods and bullion. The 1972 creation of the International Monetary Market, the worlds first financial futures exchange, in 1976, the IMM added interest rate futures on US treasury bills, and in 1982 they added stock market index futures. Although futures contract are oriented towards a future point, their main purpose is to mitigate risk of default by either party in the intervening period. In this vein, the futures exchange requires both parties to put up initial cash, or a bond, known as the margin. To mitigate the risk of default, the product is marked to market on a basis where the difference between the initial agreed-upon price and the actual daily futures price is reevaluated daily. If the margin account goes below a certain value set by the Exchange, then a call is made. This process is known as marking to market, thus on the delivery date, the amount exchanged is not the specified price on the contract but the spot value. Upon marketing the strike price is reached and creates lots of income for the caller. To minimize credit risk to the exchange, traders must post a margin or a performance bond, to minimize counterparty risk to traders, trades executed on regulated futures exchanges are guaranteed by a clearing house. The clearing house becomes the buyer to each seller, and the seller to each Buyer and this enables traders to transact without performing due diligence on their counterparty. Margin requirements are waived or reduced in cases for hedgers who have physical ownership of the covered commodity or spread traders who have offsetting contracts balancing the position
Israel
Palestinian Authority[1]
Sheqel H̱adash; Arabic: شيقل جديد shēqel jadīd; sign: ₪; code: ILS), also known as simply the Israeli shekel and formerly known as the New Israeli Sheqel (NIS), is the currency of Israel and is also used as a legal tender in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The new shekel is divided into 100 agora, the new shekel has been in use since 1 January 1986, when it replaced the hyperinflated old shekel at a ratio of 1000:1.
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