Israeli parliamentarians have heard criticism of the country's national biometrics ID card programme at an Interior Committee hearing.MK David Amsalem (Likud), chairperson of the committee, told the Knesset (parliament) that five million of the cards equipped with biometric data chips were ordered, but four million of them are languishing in warehouses, as Israelis have largely rejected them.He said that half of the cards were ordered and paid for even before the program started – and without a tender, reported the Hamodia newspaper.”The state received permission to spend NIS 270 million (US$70.6 million) on 2.5 million cards before the Biometrics Law even passed,” he said. “What would have happened if the law had been rejected?” The cards were ordered without a tender, “and with a tender we would have saved NIS 160 million on the project,” said Amsalem. “Did the enthusiasm for the biometric program justify this waste of money and violation of protocol?”In July, Senior Israeli officials aid that a biometric database linking all passports and ID cards will be obligatory by next year. Interior Minister Arye Dery was speaking as the millionth member of the database was enrolled.”From now on anyone obtaining a document from the Interior Ministry, whether an ID card or a passport, will receive a biometric one. We've decided on having this database and we'll soon decide what will be included in it,” Dery said at the time.
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