Teudat Zehut
Encyclopedia
Teudat Zehut is the Israel
i compulsory identity document
, as prescribed in the Identity Card Carrying and Displaying Act of 1982:
Any resident sixteen years of age or older must at all times carry an Identity card, and present it upon demand to a senior police officer, head of Municipal or Regional Authority, or a policeman or member of the Armed forces on duty. — חוק החזקת תעודת זהות והצגתה (Identity Card Carrying and Displaying Act of 1982) on the Hebrew
Wikisource
.
today). However, the law explicitly forbids pressing charges in case the offender contacted the relevant authorities within five days and identified himself properly. In practice, charges are rarely brought up against offenders even when they fail to fulfill this demand. In addition to this law, the identity card is required in order to exercise certain civil rights
. Until recently it was the only valid identification for voting in general election
s, however since 2005 the law also permits the use of a valid driving license or a valid Israeli passport for this purpose. When not specifically required by law, other identification may be used. In Israel, access to many office buildings or guarded areas requires showing an ID.
Identity cards are issued by the Israeli Interior Ministry, through offices across the country. The document is issued to all residents over 16 years old who have legal permanent residence status, including non-citizens. The document has no expiry date, and it can be used as long as it is intact.
There is also a separate document appendix, a folded paper contained in the other inner compartment, listing the following:
, Druze
and Circassian. Identity Cards issued before 2005 included a disclaimer written in small print in Hebrew and Arabic indicating that the card may serve as a prima facie
proof for the data it includes except le'om, marital status and the spouse's name.
There have been some fierce legal battles about identifying the ethnicity of the bearer in the Israeli Identity card. As of 2005, the ethnicity has not been printed; a line of eight asterisks appears instead. In 2002, the Supreme Court of Israel
instructed the Interior Ministry to indicate the ethnicity of people who underwent a Reform
conversion as Jews. The Minister at the time, Eli Yishai
, a member of Shas
, an Orthodox
party, decided he would drop the ethnicity category altogether, rather than list as Jews people whom he considered non-Jews. In 2004, the Supreme Court denied a citizen's petition to reinstate this indicator, stating that the field in the document was meant for statistical collection only, and not as a declarative statement of Judaism.
Currently, whether a citizen is Jewish or non-Jewish can in some cases be determined by checking whether the Hebrew date
of birth appears in addition to the civil date. The state's registration which serves as the basis for the data in the Identity Cards still indicates the ethnicity of each person, and this information is available upon request in certain circumstances determined by the registration law.
An amendment to the Israeli registration law approved by the Knesset in 2007 determines that a Jew may ask to remove the Hebrew date from his entry, and consequently from his Identity Card. This is due to errors that often occur in the registration of the Hebrew date because the Hebrew calendar day starts at sunset and not at midnight. The amendment also introduces an explicit definition for the term "a day according to the Hebrew calendar".
and the Gaza Strip
were issued ID cards by the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria
(and Gaza until 2005), which had an almost identical layout as the Israeli card (the differences being that the surname category came after the first name, father's name, and grandfather's name categories instead of at the top, and the "ethnicity" category was replaced with a "religion" category). The casings for these cards were orange (West Bank
) or red (Gaza Strip
) with the IDF insignia embossed on the outer cover. Palestinians who were barred from entering Israel were issued ID cards with green casings instead of orange to identify them as such. Since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority
, the PNA issues its residents with Palestinian ID cards based on Israeli approval. They are identical to the Israeli Civil Administration cards save for the order of languages being switched, with Arabic coming before Hebrew, and the plastic casing being dark green with the PNA insignia embossed on the outer cover. Israel controls the Palestinian population registry per the Interim Agreements
, and assigns the ID numbers for Palestinian ID cards.
Israel began issuing ID cards to Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip following its occupation in 1967.
calculated using a simple formula.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i compulsory identity document
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
, as prescribed in the Identity Card Carrying and Displaying Act of 1982:
Any resident sixteen years of age or older must at all times carry an Identity card, and present it upon demand to a senior police officer, head of Municipal or Regional Authority, or a policeman or member of the Armed forces on duty. — חוק החזקת תעודת זהות והצגתה (Identity Card Carrying and Displaying Act of 1982) on the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
Wikisource
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has...
.
Law and common practice
Criminal offence carries a 5,000 Old Israeli shekel fine for not carrying an identity card or for misuse of the document (in 1983 prices, which equal about 1,400 NISIsraeli new sheqel
The Israeli New Shekel is the currency of the State of Israel. The shekel is divided into 100 agorot...
today). However, the law explicitly forbids pressing charges in case the offender contacted the relevant authorities within five days and identified himself properly. In practice, charges are rarely brought up against offenders even when they fail to fulfill this demand. In addition to this law, the identity card is required in order to exercise certain civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
. Until recently it was the only valid identification for voting in general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s, however since 2005 the law also permits the use of a valid driving license or a valid Israeli passport for this purpose. When not specifically required by law, other identification may be used. In Israel, access to many office buildings or guarded areas requires showing an ID.
Identity cards are issued by the Israeli Interior Ministry, through offices across the country. The document is issued to all residents over 16 years old who have legal permanent residence status, including non-citizens. The document has no expiry date, and it can be used as long as it is intact.
Document contents
The card is laminated and held in one of the two inner compartments of its plastic cover, and includes the following personal details:- unique number, called Identity Number
- full name (surname/last name, given name)
- name of father
- name of mother
- date of birth (both civilGregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
and—for Jews—the Hebrew dateHebrew calendarThe Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
as well (voluntarily) - place of birth
- ethnicity (only in cards issued before 2005, but when the Hebrew date of birth appears, it is indicative of a Jewish origin)
- gender
- place and date of issue (both Gregorian and Hebrew date)
- portrait photo (in color)
There is also a separate document appendix, a folded paper contained in the other inner compartment, listing the following:
- current address
- previous addresses
- previous name(s)
- citizenship (the bearer may be a permanent resident with a foreign citizenship)
- name, birth date and identity number of spouse and children
- electoral polling stationPolling stationA polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...
stamp: the appendix used to be stamped at the polling station to help prevent ballot stuffingBallot stuffingBallot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. The name originates from the earliest days of this practice in which people literally did stuff more than one ballot in a ballot box at the same time...
. This regulation is abolished since 1992, so that the voter may now use an ID card without an appendix.
Question of ethnicity
Prior to 2005 Israeli Identity Cards included a reference to the bearer's ethnic group. The official term for this category in Hebrew was le'om (לאום), and it was officially translated into Arabic as qawmīya (قومية). These terms can be translated into English as "nation", but in the sense of ethnic affiliation rather than citizenship. The le'om attribution was assigned by the ministry of the interior regardless of the card bearer's preference. There were several attributions, the main ones being: Jewish, ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
, Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
and Circassian. Identity Cards issued before 2005 included a disclaimer written in small print in Hebrew and Arabic indicating that the card may serve as a prima facie
Prima facie
Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter, first blush, or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face", from the feminine form of primus and facies , both in the ablative case. It is used in modern legal English to signify that on first examination, a...
proof for the data it includes except le'om, marital status and the spouse's name.
There have been some fierce legal battles about identifying the ethnicity of the bearer in the Israeli Identity card. As of 2005, the ethnicity has not been printed; a line of eight asterisks appears instead. In 2002, the Supreme Court of Israel
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
instructed the Interior Ministry to indicate the ethnicity of people who underwent a Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
conversion as Jews. The Minister at the time, Eli Yishai
Eli Yishai
Eliyahu "Eli" Yishai is an Israeli politician and head of the Shas party. He currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Shas, and as both one of four Deputy Prime Ministers and Minister of Internal Affairs.- Political life :...
, a member of Shas
Shas
Shas is an ultra-orthodox religious political party in Israel, primarily representing Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi Judaism.Shas was founded in 1984 by dissident members of the Ashkenazi dominated Agudat Israel, to represent the interests of religiously observant Sephardic and Mizrahi ...
, an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
party, decided he would drop the ethnicity category altogether, rather than list as Jews people whom he considered non-Jews. In 2004, the Supreme Court denied a citizen's petition to reinstate this indicator, stating that the field in the document was meant for statistical collection only, and not as a declarative statement of Judaism.
Currently, whether a citizen is Jewish or non-Jewish can in some cases be determined by checking whether the Hebrew date
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
of birth appears in addition to the civil date. The state's registration which serves as the basis for the data in the Identity Cards still indicates the ethnicity of each person, and this information is available upon request in certain circumstances determined by the registration law.
An amendment to the Israeli registration law approved by the Knesset in 2007 determines that a Jew may ask to remove the Hebrew date from his entry, and consequently from his Identity Card. This is due to errors that often occur in the registration of the Hebrew date because the Hebrew calendar day starts at sunset and not at midnight. The amendment also introduces an explicit definition for the term "a day according to the Hebrew calendar".
ID card casing and variations
The colour of the plastic casing of the Identity card of Israeli citizens and permanent residents is blue, with the Israeli Coat of Arms embossed on the outer cover. Non-Israeli residents of the West BankWest Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
were issued ID cards by the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizations, diplomats, and the Palestinian...
(and Gaza until 2005), which had an almost identical layout as the Israeli card (the differences being that the surname category came after the first name, father's name, and grandfather's name categories instead of at the top, and the "ethnicity" category was replaced with a "religion" category). The casings for these cards were orange (West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
) or red (Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
) with the IDF insignia embossed on the outer cover. Palestinians who were barred from entering Israel were issued ID cards with green casings instead of orange to identify them as such. Since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
, the PNA issues its residents with Palestinian ID cards based on Israeli approval. They are identical to the Israeli Civil Administration cards save for the order of languages being switched, with Arabic coming before Hebrew, and the plastic casing being dark green with the PNA insignia embossed on the outer cover. Israel controls the Palestinian population registry per the Interim Agreements
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
, and assigns the ID numbers for Palestinian ID cards.
Israel began issuing ID cards to Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip following its occupation in 1967.
Other
The Identity number comprises nine digits, the last of which is a check digitCheck digit
A check digit is a form of redundancy check used for error detection, the decimal equivalent of a binary checksum. It consists of a single digit computed from the other digits in the message....
calculated using a simple formula.
See also
- Who is a Jew?Who is a Jew?"Who is a Jew?" is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question is based in ideas about Jewish personhood which themselves have cultural, religious, genealogical, and personal dimensions...
- Identity documentIdentity documentAn identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
- Jewish identity and inter-religious marriages in Reform Judaism