US Supreme Court To Hear Whether Passports Can Say: "Jerusalem, Israel"

A case is now before the US Supreme Court regarding whether a US passport can list someone's birthplace as Israel if they are born in Jerusalem:

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by an American citizen born in Jerusalem. US citizen Menachem Zivotofsky was born in Jerusalem in 2002. The US State Department has refused to list "Israel" as his place of birth on his passport and would only write "Jerusalem" instead. This is despite the fact that in 2002 Congress instructed the State Department to "record the place of birth as Israel" in passports of American children born in Jerusalem if their parents request it.

The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court not to hear the case. The Supreme Court justices instead not only agreed to hear the case, but also directed the two sides to address the broad question of whether the law "impermissibly infringes the president's power to recognize foreign sovereigns."

The full brief for the petitioner is available online.

There is also a press release embedded below

There are 9 reasons given why passports should be allowed to mention "Jerusalem, Israel" including:

• The State Department permits "West Bank," "Gaza Strip," and "Palestine" to be entered even though these are not recognized countries.
• Taiwan is allowed to be recorded on American passports even though the President had in 1979 recognized the People's Republic of China as having jurisdiction over Taiwan.
• Many Executive Branch Departments issue public statements identifying "Jerusalem, Israel."

All 9 reasons are outlined in the press release below

Full screen copy of the press release




Now it remains to be seen how the US Supreme Court, which has clearly taken an interest in the issue, decides.


Technorati Tag: Israel and Jerusalem and US Supreme Court.