Budgets are being cut in every sector of society because the government says there isn't enough money. They do though seem to have the money to set up what is sure to be a very expensive biometric database that we don't even need. Yes the IDa cards are a joke and anybody can forge them but there is off the shelf non biometric smart card technology around which are satisfactory. Stopping illegal immigration or palestinian terror will not be solved through biometrics. It would cost billions of shekels to set up and operate this database. Also Meir Sheetrit doesn't exactly fill me with confidence when he says that there are many sensitive databases that have not leaked out. Sadly the top this country doesn't have a very good record when it comes to keeping sensitive information safe. A national biometric database would be a very tempting target for organized crime and terrorists. Criminals are not interested in peoples medical records but a biometirc database is another matter and alot more people would have access to that than have access to Shin Bet records. All it takes is a couple of crooked employees and a little bit of maffia money and there could be a national disaster.