According to the minister of Interior Affairs, Israel today has more than 350,000 fake ID’s. To tackle this problem, the Israeli Parliament is planning a new law that could soon be approved — a “Biometrics Data Bank” law. Three votes are needed to pass the law in Parliament. One of them was already attained in October last year. The proposed law would see the establishment of computerized data banks containing the name, facial contour information, and pictures of two fingerprints for every Israeli citizen. Israeli Association of Citizen's Rights, say it’s an impingement and infiltration to a citizen’s privacy. They also state that it’s not yet clear how accessibility to the data bank will be accomplished, and who will handle it?

[Avnek Pinchuk, Advocate for Association of the Citizen's Rights]:
"The idea of data concentration of all the citizens in one data bank maybe could be useful, but no democracy raised that idea until now. The reason for it is that we live in democracy, that the data and power need to be decentralized. We live in an era that data is power, and the one that controls and holds data of citizens or other people has almost unlimited power."

The stored information would be used as a reference for verification of newly issued citizen ID cards that contain the same information. This would allow police to check a suspect’s ID, against the facial and fingerprint information stored in the data bank. Access to the Biometrics Data Bank would be given to the Interior Affairs office and police. But the main opposition is that information from the data bank could leak into hostile hands.

[Eli Yishai, Minister of the Interior Affairs]:
"I'm sure that a very special team of experts in the field of data protection will be set up, to raise any idea of what can be done, and that in order to calm down another percent, I wish a dozen percent in the Israeli society."

Supporters emphasize the security that this new system will bring.

[Hemi Peker, Anti-Terror Expert]:
"The Biometrics Data Bank isn't the purpose of the law. It's only a means that [is] suppose to actualize the law intention."

[Nathan Diter, a Passerby]:
"It's a good law. It's good because in the time that there is a lot of crime in our country, the police and the institutions that work in the country, will have a way to immediately locate many criminals like that, and I think it’s a great thing."
In the Israeli forum for International security, that took place near Tel Aviv, the Israeli Minister of the Interior said: Member of Parliament, Meir Shitrit was the initiator of the biometric reservoir foundation law.

[Meir Shitrit, Israeli MP]:
"One of the main reasons of the Biometrics Data Bank foundation is the security state of Israel. This is one of the only tools that the arms of the law have in order to assure that undesirable people will not enter here."

Michael Eitan, Minister of Improvement of Government Services, supports technological progress, but not without caution.

[Michael Eitan, Israeli Minister]:
"I'm saying that no disaster will occur in this kind of step, and I'm in favor of technology. But in this subject of privacy risk versus technology benefit, we will give others to be the leaders, and we for Heaven forbid will be in the seventh or eighth position in a world that’s leading that matter."

In the wake of this public debate, will the biometrics law be passed? Well, it’s still a matter of ‘wait and see’ what Israel’s lawmakers decide. 

This report was made by Lee Rom, NTD Israel.

Photographers: Anat Markram, Rachel Berstetsky