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Suppose I'm about to visit Israel. I know that its public transport system uses this card called Rav Kav ("multi-line" in Hebrew). I also know that there are personal-identified and anonymous versions of these cards. Now, you might think it's just a convenience , but - as @chx mentions in his answer - it seems cash payments are being phased out on buses, so a visitor really must get him/herself one.

My question: Where can I have a(n anonymous) Rav-Kav card issued?

Note: I'm not asking about recharging/topping-up these cards - that's different.

While Tourist Israel is not government, it's a pretty reliable site and their page has this important note:

As of January 2019, Israel made a change to remove cash from bus transportation and use the Rav-Kav card exclusively.

OK so we need that card! Almost everyone will enter Israel either at Ben Gurion or Ramon so let's see where we can get a card after landing...

The same Tourist Israel page mentions "For travelers looking to purchase anonymous Rav-Kavs, there are several designated locations around Tel Aviv including all of the Tel Aviv train stations, the Central Bus Station (level 6) and in the arrivals hall of Ben Gurion Airport. To purchase a Rav-Kav is 5 nis."

Ben Gurion Airport arrivals hall, that ain't a lot of help. This tripadvisor thread to the rescue:

Starting Monday 16/4/2018, Israel's Ministry of Transportation has opened a Public Transportation Information Center which also issues Rav Kavs, Israel's public transportation electronic card. The information center is intended mainly for tourists.

Opening Hours: Sun-Thu 07:00-23:00, Fri 07:00-15:00

Location: Ben Gurion int'l airport, Terminal 3

and links to the government page in Hebrew which has this photo:

Now, Egged itself obviously has a Rav Kav Card page which lists all their locations, including one for Ramon airport (notably Ben Gurion seems to be missing from their list but we covered that already):

Ramon Airport - in front of arrivals exit

Sunday to Thursday 7:30 - 22:30

Friday and holiday eves 8:00 - 16:00

Saturday/holyday - from the "going out" time and till 22

Personal note: thanks for the question, I would've never thought they stopped accepting cash and would've looked silly when I try to board the bus in Eilat in January, now I know and I will buy a card at Ramon when I land.

There is now a Rav Kav sales point at Ben Gurion airport, at terminal 3, in the arrivals hall, next to exit 2.

The Rav Kav website maintains a list of sales points with address and opening hours. I don't know how accurate or complete this information is.

As far as I know, you cannot buy a Rav Kav from a ticket machine at a train station (but you can recharge one), even an anonymous one. You need to visit a station with a service point during opening hours. The same applies to the Jerusalem light rail.

In Haifa, you can buy an anonymous Rav Kav from ticket vending machines located at many bus stops.

You can no longer buy a Rav Kav from bus drivers. It used to be possible, but this is being phased out in 2019. Beware that a lot of information on the web is obsolete, even on official sites, especially in English.

You can buy a Rav-Kav at many central bus stations around the country, and the Tel-Aviv train stations. However, the opening hours for the train station Rav-Kav booths are annoyingly limited! (not sure about the bus station booths.)

If you want to have everything prepared in advance, you can also head to Ebay and purchase a Rav Kav card in advance by having it shipped to your home address. Some sellers even offer pre-charged Rav Kav cards, so you won't even need to top them up on arrival.

This is obviously a more expensive option, as all resellers charge a fee for their services.