When were you there? I was living in Israel 1999-2001 and it was about $1-4NIS. If I could have gotten a 7 to 1 exchange I never would have left!
I was there in 1990, just on vacation. I guess it was more or less during the first "intifada." I do remember it being pretty cheap at the time. I think you could get a soda for two shekels or a slice of pizza for about four. You can probably tell I was a teen at the time...