The Israeli new shekel (Hebrew: שקל חדש, romanized: šéqel ħadáš, IPA: [ˈʃekel χaˈdaʃ]), also known by the acronym NIS (Hebrew: ש״ח IPA: [ʃaχ]), was announced officially on 22 September 1985, when the first new shekel banknotes and coins were introduced.

The shekel sign, like the dollar sign ⟨$⟩, is usually placed left of the number (i.e. "₪12,000" and not "12,000₪"), but since Hebrew is written from right to left, this means that the symbol is actually written after the number.

The old Israeli shekel, ⟨⟩, in circulation between 1980 and 1985, had a different symbol, which was officially announced on 18 March 1980.

[3] Before the introduction of the old shekel in 1980, there was no special symbol for the Israeli currency.

It was a stylized Shin shaped like a cradle (i.e. rounded and opening upward).