Amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Israeli stocks are experiencing their steepest weekly decline since early October 2023, when Hamas launched a devastating attack on Israel, killing over 1,000 people and abducting 250 civilians to the Gaza Strip. The Tel Aviv 125 index has dropped over 4% this week through Thursday, while the shekel weakened by more than 3.8% against the dollar, marking its steepest weekly fall since June 2022. Exchange-traded funds listed in the U.S. that track Israeli equities, such as the iShares MSCI Israel ETF (NYSE:EIS) and the VanEck Israel ETF (NYSE:ISRA), declined by 6.4% and 5.4%, respectively, by the close of trading on Thursday. What Has Happened In The Middle East This Week? In the past 48 hours, Middle Eastern tensions have significantly escalated following the deaths of three key commanders from Iran-affiliated military proxies engaged in conflict with Israel. On Wednesday, Israeli forces announced the killing of Fuad Shukr, a military leader of Hezbollah, in ...