Israel Opens Digital Identity and National Wallet Strategy for Public Comment

Israel's National Cyber Directorate published a draft national digital identity strategy for public comment on November 8. The proposal would extend government identity verification to private service providers and establish a national digital wallet for official documents. It is a consultation proposal, with government approval still to follow. The government identification system already has 5.5 million registered Israelis. Under the proposed expansion, banks, insurers, health organizations and communications companies could use the infrastructure to verify people registering for services. Providers would retain their own account sign-in methods, including passwords or one-time codes. Private accounts would remain separate, and the proposal would not give the government access to them. The wallet would hold state-issued certificates, licences, permits and other official documents for digital presentation and verification. The Directorate said: "The wallet could also be used when receiving service face to face." Physical documents would continue to be issued. The Directorate says reducing the repeated transmission and storage of document copies would limit exposure to data leaks and identity fraud. The strategy was developed with the National Digital Agency, the Population and Immigration Authority, the Finance Ministry's Budget Department, the Accountant General and the Bank of Israel. After public feedback and revisions, it is to be submitted to the government alongside a five-year implementation plan.