IsraelLawMost people who move to a new country treat a national ID card as an afterthought. In their home country, a passport handles everything. Israel does not work that way. The Teudat Zehut is not documentation you can bypass with a foreign passport. Banks refuse to open accounts without one. The National Insurance Institute requires it to process benefits. Landlords and government offices verify your ID number against the Population Registry before they proceed with any paperwork. It is, practically speaking, the document you cannot function without.
1. Who Is Entitled to a Teudat Zehut Under Israeli Law?
The Population Registry Law 5725-1965 is the primary statute governing identity registration in Israel. Under Section 2 of that law, every person who is registered in the Population Registry is entitled — and required — to hold an identity card. Two categories of people are registered in the Population Registry: Israeli citizens and Israeli permanent residents (toshavim kevuim).
Israeli citizens receive a Teudat Zehut regardless of how they acquired citizenship — by birth, by aliyah under the Law of Return, by naturalization, or by registration. A citizen's Teudat Zehut is marked "citizen" (ezrach) in the document's registry field.
Permanent residents who are not citizens also receive a Teudat Zehut. This is common for the non-Jewish family members of olim who moved to Israel through the family pathway under Section 4A of the Law of Return, or for spouses of Israeli citizens who completed the graduated family visa process. A permanent resident's Teudat Zehut is marked "permanent resident" (toshav keva), which matters in a few practical contexts: permanent residents cannot vote in Knesset elections and are not entitled to consular protection from Israeli embassies abroad.
Who does not get a Teudat Zehut:
- Foreign nationals on temporary work visas (B/1, A/2, or similar) — they hold a foreign passport with an Israeli entry stamp or a work permit card.
- Tourists and visa-free visitors.
- Temporary residents on A/1 or A/5 status who have not yet been granted permanent residency.
- Non-residents who own property in Israel but do not live here.
If you fall into one of the temporary visa categories, you will interact with Israeli bureaucracy using your foreign passport. Once your status upgrades to permanent residency or citizenship, you can apply for a Teudat Zehut.
A new oleh arrived in February 2025 and his non-Jewish wife arrived under Section 4A of the Law of Return. Both received temporary Teudat Zehut documents at Ben Gurion Airport. At their Population Authority appointment six weeks later, the oleh was registered as a citizen and his wife as a permanent resident (toshav keva). Her Teudat Zehut carries the permanent resident notation. She can work freely in Israel, access NII benefits, and register with a kupat holim — but she cannot vote in Knesset elections. She is eligible to apply for naturalization under Section 5 of the Citizenship Law 5712-1952 after five years of continuous permanent residency in Israel.
2. The Temporary Teudat Zehut You Receive at Ben Gurion Airport
New immigrants making aliyah through the Jewish Agency or Nefesh B'Nefesh receive their immigration documents at the airport on arrival day. The package includes two key documents: the Teudat Oleh (immigration certificate) and a temporary Teudat Zehut.
The temporary Teudat Zehut is a paper document, not the biometric plastic card. It carries your Israeli ID number, a nine-digit number that stays with you for life regardless of name changes, address changes, or dual citizenship. The temporary document is valid for 90 days from the date of issue, which gives you a hard deadline for completing your Population Authority appointment and biometric enrollment.
During those 90 days, the temporary Teudat Zehut works for most purposes. You can use it to:
- Open a bank account at most major Israeli banks (Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot, Discount Bank).
- Register with a kupat holim health fund — you have 90 days from arrival to choose your fund under the National Health Insurance Law 5754-1994, Section 5.
- Register your children at school.
- Apply for a SIM card.
- Sign a residential lease.
The temporary document has limits. Some government portals require a biometric-encoded ID number and will not accept the paper version. It also cannot be used as a travel document. To travel internationally, new olim continue using their foreign passport until they receive an Israeli passport, which requires a separate application to the Population Authority.
Many new olim discover that Bank Leumi and other Israeli banks sometimes request a second form of ID alongside the temporary Teudat Zehut — typically the Teudat Oleh or a foreign passport — when opening an account in the first few weeks after aliyah. This is standard practice during the period before the biometric card is issued, not a sign of any problem with your status. Bring both your temporary Teudat Zehut and your Teudat Oleh to any banking or government appointment during the first 90 days. The NII (Bituach Leumi) office at your local branch will need both documents to create your file and begin calculating your absorption basket (sal klita) payments.
3. Booking Your Population and Immigration Authority Appointment
The Population and Immigration Authority (Rashut HaUhlosin VeHaHagirah) operates under the Ministry of Interior and is responsible for issuing all Teudat Zehut documents in Israel. The authority has district offices in most major cities — Tel Aviv (Rashlatz), Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheva, Netanya, Ashdod, and others — with smaller branches in many towns.
Appointments are booked through the MyVisit system, accessible through the Gov.il government portal (gov.il/he/departments/units/population-and-immigration-authority) or the MyVisit app available for iOS and Android. The appointment type you need is "Teudat Zehut — first-time biometric issuance for new immigrant" (hotzaat teudat zehut biometrit leoleh chadash).
Appointment availability varies significantly by office and season. In 2025 and early 2026, standard appointment slots at major urban offices — particularly the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa branches — have been booked out three to six weeks in advance. Start booking as soon as you arrive in Israel, not in week eight of your 90-day window. If your appointment falls close to your 90-day deadline, contact the office directly to request an extension of your temporary card's validity, which the authority can issue administratively.
Documents to bring to your appointment:
- Your temporary Teudat Zehut paper document.
- Your Teudat Oleh (immigration certificate).
- Your foreign passport.
- Birth certificate with apostille (or translated and notarized equivalent).
- Marriage certificate with apostille if applicable.
- Any prior Israeli documents (if you held Israeli status before, such as a returning resident).
Children below the age of 16 who arrived with you are processed at the same appointment. Each child who turns 16 must attend a separate future appointment to receive their own biometric card.
The Tel Aviv Population Authority office on Ibn Gabirol Street is one of the busiest offices in Israel. Walk-ins are not accepted. Applicants who arrive expecting to queue and be seen the same day are turned away. Priority appointments (booked through licensed third-party service agencies for a fee of approximately NIS 200 to NIS 350) are available and are legal — these agencies hold appointment slots in the MyVisit system and transfer them to clients. If your 90-day deadline is approaching and no standard appointment is available in time, contact the Population Authority's information line (phone: *3450) and explain the situation. Administrative extensions of the temporary Teudat Zehut are routinely granted for new olim facing appointment backlogs, though they require a written request and can take several business days to confirm.
4. The Biometric Enrollment Appointment: What to Expect
Since 2017, all Israeli identity cards have been biometric, following the Law for Adding Biometric Identifiers and Data to Identification Documents 5770-2009 (as amended). The biometric enrollment collects your fingerprints (all ten fingers, with a minimum of two acceptable prints required), a digital photograph taken at the office, and your height. The data is stored in the Population Authority's secure database and encoded in the chip embedded in the plastic card.
The appointment itself is typically 20 to 40 minutes. A staff member reviews your documents, takes your photograph, and guides you through the fingerprint scanner. Children under 12 are exempt from fingerprint collection. Children aged 12 to 16 may have fingerprints collected at the authority's discretion. All adults 16 and older must provide fingerprints.
After the biometric data is collected, your application enters the production queue. Processing time for the permanent biometric Teudat Zehut is currently six to ten weeks from the date of your appointment. The card is delivered by registered post to the address you provide at the appointment — this will become your registered address in the Population Registry. You receive an SMS notification when the card is dispatched.
When the card arrives, you must activate it. The Population Authority sends a separate SMS with an activation code. Activation confirms to the authority's system that the card was physically received by you, at which point it becomes live in the national database. Some services — including certain government ministry portals and the Tax Authority online portal — will not recognize your ID number as valid until your card is activated, even though your ID number itself was assigned on arrival day.
The safest course is to activate the biometric Teudat Zehut immediately upon receipt, before doing anything else. One new oleh — a tech professional who made aliyah in late 2024 — waited three weeks to activate his card after it arrived, and found that his employer's HR system (which cross-checks Israeli ID numbers against the Population Authority registry) would not process his employment paperwork until the card was activated. The employer's system showed his ID number as "unrecognized" even though he had been working legally on his temporary document for two months. Activation took 30 seconds by SMS and resolved the issue immediately. Do not set the card aside — activate it the day it arrives.
5. What the Population Registry Records — And Why It Matters
The Population Registry (Misdar HaUhlosin), maintained under the Population Registry Law 5725-1965, is Israel's central database of residents. It records:
- Your full name as registered (and any previous names if you changed your name).
- Your ID number (nine-digit number assigned for life).
- Date and place of birth.
- Nationality (le'om) — a contested field that has significant implications for marriage and religious status.
- Religion (dat).
- Citizenship status (citizen or permanent resident).
- Current registered address (ktovet megurim).
- Marital status and spouse's ID number.
- Children's ID numbers if registered under your record.
The registry is not a public document, but it is accessible to government agencies, courts, licensed attorneys (with written client authorization), banks verifying identity under the Prevention of Money Laundering Law, and employers in certain regulated industries. When a creditor files for execution of a judgment against you, the Execution Office can access the registry to locate your address. Courts serve legal documents to the address on file.
The le'om (nationality) field on older Israeli IDs used to say "Jewish," "Arab," or other ethnic designations. A 2002 Supreme Court decision and subsequent administrative changes mean that for new registrations, the field is either populated with the recognized le'om from prior records or left blank at the applicant's request. For new olim, the field is typically populated with "Jewish" (Yehudi) as part of the aliyah registration process, though applicants have the right to request a blank entry.
The registered address in the Population Registry is the address Israeli authorities use as your legal domicile for all official correspondence. If the Tax Authority issues a notice about an unpaid tax assessment, it sends it to your Population Registry address. If the Execution Office initiates enforcement proceedings on a debt, it serves the garnishment order at your registered address. A resident who moved from Tel Aviv to Haifa in 2023 but never updated the registry received a Tax Authority demand notice at her old apartment. The tenant discarded the letter. By the time she discovered the outstanding assessment, penalties and interest under Section 190 of the Income Tax Ordinance had increased the original NIS 12,000 liability to NIS 19,800. Updating your address costs nothing and takes about 10 minutes online through Gov.il.
6. Updating Your Address After You Move
Section 6 of the Population Registry Law 5725-1965 requires every registered resident to notify the Population Authority of a change of address within 30 days of moving. This applies to citizens and permanent residents alike. Failing to update is a technical violation of the law, though in practice, prosecution for non-reporting is rare. The real risk is the practical one: official correspondence goes to the wrong address, and services linked to your registered location — including some municipal benefit calculations and election polling station assignments — become misaligned.
Address updates can be made in three ways:
- Online through Gov.il: Log in with your digital identity credentials (Mishal card or biometric Teudat Zehut number plus MyVisit credentials), navigate to "population registry services," and submit a change-of-address notification. The update typically appears in the registry within two to three business days.
- By post: Download the address change form from the Population Authority website, complete it, and mail it to your local Population Authority district office with a copy of your Teudat Zehut.
- In person: Attend any Population Authority office with your Teudat Zehut. No appointment is required for address changes at most offices — this is one of the few transactions you can handle as a walk-in.
There is no fee for an address update. The change is reflected on the Population Registry immediately, but your physical Teudat Zehut card continues to show the old address until your next renewal. The card itself is valid even if the printed address is outdated — the Population Registry is the authoritative record, not the card. Courts and government agencies check the registry, not the printed card.
Kupat holim health fund branches are assigned by your registered address — specifically, by the city or regional code on file in the Population Registry. When you move from one city to another, your registered health fund branch may change. If you continue visiting your old branch after moving and updating your address, the health fund may flag the inconsistency. More practically, if you need emergency NII assistance or disability assessments, the relevant NII branch is determined by your Population Registry address. A Haifa-based NII branch cannot process a file that shows a Tel Aviv address without a transfer request, which adds weeks to an already slow process. Update the registry within 30 days of moving — it takes ten minutes online and avoids significant practical problems.
7. If Your Teudat Zehut Is Lost or Stolen
A lost or stolen Teudat Zehut is a genuine problem in Israel because the ID number is tied to your bank accounts, health records, and all government systems. Report the loss as soon as you realize it.
The required steps are:
- File a police report. Attend your nearest police station (mismar mishtera) and report the loss or theft. You will receive a written police report (takbul) confirming the date and circumstances of the report.
- Report to the Population Authority. Contact the Population Authority (by phone at *3450 or through the Gov.il portal) to flag your ID number as lost. This prevents anyone who finds the card from misusing it in transactions that check the active/lost status.
- Book an appointment for a replacement card. You can book through the MyVisit system. Bring your police report, foreign passport or birth certificate, and Teudat Oleh if applicable.
The replacement fee for a lost Teudat Zehut is currently NIS 25. If the card was stolen rather than lost, the fee may be waived upon presentation of the police theft report. Processing time for a replacement biometric card is the same as for a first-time issuance: six to ten weeks. During that period, you use the police report and your foreign passport as combined proof of identity for most purposes.
If you suspect identity fraud — someone using your ID number to take credit, sign contracts, or access services — contact the Population Authority's fraud prevention unit and the relevant bank or service provider immediately. Under the Criminal Law (Amendment No. 74) 5748-1988, use of another person's ID number is a criminal offense. Israeli banks are required under the Banking (Customer Service) Law and Anti-Money Laundering regulations to freeze accounts where fraudulent use of an ID is suspected, pending investigation.
One new immigrant had her bag stolen in Jerusalem in 2024, losing her biometric Teudat Zehut along with her phone and wallet. She filed a police report within two hours. The Police issued a takbul with the theft confirmed. She reported the loss to the Population Authority online the same evening and booked a replacement appointment for three weeks later. In the interim, she used the police takbul plus her British passport for banking and government transactions. All major Israeli banks accepted this combination. The replacement card arrived seven weeks after her appointment. She received an SMS notification when it was dispatched and a separate activation SMS the same day. The entire cost was NIS 25. What she should also have done immediately, and did not think of until her lawyer raised it, was check her credit report through the Dun & Bradstreet Israel credit bureau (Dun & Bradstreet Yisrael) to confirm no fraudulent lines had been opened in her name during the gap before her card was flagged as lost in the Population Authority system.
8. ID Cards for Children and Teenagers
Children who immigrate to Israel with olim parents are registered in the Population Registry and receive their own ID numbers at Ben Gurion Airport along with the family's arrival documents. Until the age of 16, a child does not hold a separate physical Teudat Zehut card. Instead, the child is listed as a dependent on one parent's identity record within the Population Registry system.
At age 16, every Israeli citizen and permanent resident must apply for their own independent biometric Teudat Zehut. The process mirrors the adult enrollment: an appointment at a Population Authority office, biometric fingerprinting and photo, and a six-to-ten-week wait for the card. Teenagers who have turned 16 and have not yet received their card can use a temporary document issued by the authority while they wait.
Under Section 9 of the Population Registry Law 5725-1965, every resident aged 16 and above must carry their Teudat Zehut and produce it upon request by a police officer or authorized official. Failure to produce identification when lawfully requested carries a fine of NIS 250 under the Administrative Offenses Regulations.
Children under 16 who need to travel internationally use the Israeli passport — a separate application must be made to the Population Authority for a child's passport. The child's Teudat Oleh lists the child's Israeli ID number and serves as supplementary documentation until the child reaches passport and ID card age.
Parents frequently ask whether their teenager needs a Teudat Zehut to enroll in the Israeli school system or to take the Israeli matriculation exams (bagruyot). Schools and the Education Ministry accept the Teudat Oleh and the child's Population Registry record number in place of a physical Teudat Zehut for children under 16. For the bagrut exams, the Ministry of Education requires a photo ID — which for teenagers under 16 can be the student card issued by the school with the ID number printed on it. Once a teenager reaches 16, they should book the biometric enrollment appointment promptly, because universities, the NII, and military draft boards (for those subject to IDF service) all require the physical biometric card and will not accept school cards as a substitute.