"The State of Israel was established in 1948 on the territories of Mandate Palestine, a British colonial territory previously ruled by the Ottoman Empire up to 1918. Continuity existed between these regimes. Specifically, in relation to the current study, financial transactions in one era were treated as accountable in following era/s. The Ottoman legal system gradually reformed from 1839 onwards, and for Palestine the relevant year is 1841 (between 1831 and 1841 the country was ruled by Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt). Even when modified, Ottoman laws became the foundation for British and later some Israeli laws; and the same is true of some laws in Israel that were initiated in the Mandate era. At the same time there was a significant discontinuity in what constituted official legal tenders. These were Ottoman Liras, Egyptian Pounds, British Pounds, Palestinian Pounds, Israeli Liras and old Shekels, whereas the only legal tender today is the New Israeli Shekel. And not only did currencies change, but inflation (the average increase in price of a basket of goods) or deflation (average decrease of the basket prices) could occur in any currency."