....but I will be sticking with my old ID...and unless we have become a totalitarian dictatorship, no one can force any citizen to submit to this without consent.

how much more security is needed???

With a national biometric database you don't need to have nuclear weapons to destroy Israel all you need is a computer and you can create havoc. If a country like Iran was able to hack this thing they would be able to add new ID's of their own, which means they could send people into Israel who could be issued with legitmate passports and ID cards. They could also take the details of real people off the database and suddenly you wake up one morning only to find your ID number isn't actually legal and so your now a suspected criminal. Once the word got out nobodies identity could be trusted. You can't vote because we are not certain you are who you say you are. Banks won't trust the identity of their clients. Foreign countries will not be so keen to admit Israel's because they don't trust what the passport says. What if somebody introduces a virus into the system? Stuxnet should have shown of the danger of what happens when your system is hacked. I would also love to know where the money is going to come from to finance all of this. Tony Blair wanted to introduce a similar system in the UK and the experts found it would cost billions of pounds. Do we have billions to spare? Then there is all the extra expenses. You want an ID card or passport you can't just get your picture taken in any old photograph machine. You will have to go to a special one at the Misrad Hapanim to have a digital picture taken and those machines won't come cheap. It will also mean as the only place to get your picture taken at the Misrad Hapanim it will lead to even longer cues than there already are.

From what I understand, Israeli citizens who will want to renew their passports in the future won't have much of a choice.

Well, I suppose Israel will be turning a good proportion of it;s population into outlaws. Fine by me.