The proposed change concerns how someone proves their identity to a service provider. According to the directorate, a bank or insurer could eventually rely on verification through state infrastructure instead of asking a customer to send another photograph of an identity card. The private account and activity within it would remain separate from the identification system.
Existing Infrastructure, a Wider Role
The directorate says about 5.5 million users are registered with the government identification system. Its strategy proposes gradually extending that infrastructure to organizations outside government, with an emphasis on finance, healthcare, telecommunications and insurance. The proposal would expand the role of an existing public system.
That foundation has been operating for several years. A State Comptroller report published in May 2026 records that the national identification system and the government personal service area went live in 2019. The report describes identification as the gateway to online services requiring proof of identity, while the personal area provides access to information and transactions with government.
Identity Checks Would Not Merge Accounts
Calcalist reported on November 8 that private providers would use the proposed system to verify customers during registration. Those organizations would retain their own methods for subsequent account access, such as passwords or codes sent to a phone.
That distinction defines the limits of a single identification mechanism. A person could complete an identity check through shared infrastructure without having all their accounts combined. The Cyber Directorate said the proposal would not give the government access to activity in private accounts: the national system's role would be to verify who the user is.
Documents on a Phone, Physical Cards Still Available
A national identity wallet is the second element of the proposal. According to the directorate, it would hold state issued certificates, licenses, permits and other official documents on a phone, allowing them to be presented and authenticated digitally. It would also support proving eligibility for services and sharing the information required to receive them.
The function would go beyond keeping a file available to view. The proposal also concerns checking a document's authenticity when it is presented. The directorate says the wallet could be used during an encounter in person as well as online. Its announcement explicitly says physical documents would continue to be issued and could still be used normally.
Reducing the Spread of Document Copies
The directorate argues that identity documents are currently copied and stored across many databases, sometimes without adequate protection. It says reliance on national verification could reduce the collection of those copies and exposure to data leaks and impersonation.
Those are the program's objectives, rather than results measured after implementation. Calcalist reported that Naama Ben Tzvi, head of the directorate's Identification and Biometric Applications Unit, described the mechanism as an additional tool banks could use alongside other systems to establish identity. The proposed arrangement therefore would not remove every identity check performed by a service provider.
Public Comments Come Before Approval
The directorate says it developed the strategy with the National Digital Agency, Population and Immigration Authority, Finance Ministry Budget Department, Accountant General and Bank of Israel. It announced the proposal at the beginning of National Cyber Protection Week, taking place from November 8 to 12.
According to Calcalist, public comments and revisions are expected to precede submission of the strategy for government approval, alongside a five year implementation plan. That period refers to a proposed plan, not a guaranteed launch date or a deadline by which every service will join. For now, the step open to the public is commenting on the draft by the end of November, as specified in the directorate's announcement.
