State Department insists no part of Jerusalem is recognized as Israel; US Supreme Court to decide
The American policy that Jerusalem-born babies cannot list Israel as their country of birth will be challenged in the US Supreme Court in November.
According to the State Department, no part of Jerusalem is recognized as belonging to Israel, including the western sections previously believed to be non-controversial. The State Department just issued the following press release:
QUESTION: What is the State Department’s position regarding American persons born in Jerusalem who wish to have passports issued that indicate their place of birth as Israel?
ANSWER: Current U.S. Government policy is that U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem may not have “Israel” listed in their passports as their place of birth. See the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual 7 FAM 1300 Appendix D for further details.
The relevant appendix reads as follows:
f. Birthplace in Jerusalem: For a person born in Jerusalem, write JERUSALEM as the place of birth in the passport. Do not write Israel, Jordan or West Bank for a person born within the current municipal borders of Jerusalem. For applicants born before May 14, 1948 in a place that was within the municipal borders of Jerusalem, enter JERUSALEM as their place of birth. For persons born before May 14, 1948 in a location that was outside Jerusalem’s municipal limits and later was annexed by the city, enter either PALESTINE or the name of the location (area/city) as it was known prior to annexation. For persons born after May 14,1948 in a location that was outside Jerusalem’s municipal limits and later was annexed by the city, it is acceptable to enter the name of the location (area/city) as it was known prior to annexation.
The ruling against listing as a Jerusalem newborn as being born in "Israel" is now being challenged and the case will be heard in November. In an unprecedented lawsuit that could affect over 50,000 Jerusalem-born Americans, the Court agreed to hear the case of a Jerusalem-born American boy whose parents are demanding consular officials record Israel as his country of birth on official documents.
American olim and Jerusalem residents Ari Z. Zivotofsky and Naomi Siegman Zivotofsky have been fighting for their son Menachem Binyamin’s passport and other documents to show Israel as his birth country even since he was born in Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital eight years ago. Currently, in line with US policy, Menachem Binyamin’s passport and Consular Report of Birth Abroad (equivalent of a birth certificate) only show that the boy was born in Jerusalem – but omit the country, his parents say.
As Menachem Binyamin’s parents are both Americans, he is automatically a US citizen and entitled to a US passport and other official documents. US State Department policy is to record the city and country of birth on these documents for US citizens born overseas. However, this rule does not apply for American citizens born in Jerusalem, as the Zivotofskys discovered when they applied to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv for a passport and a Consular Report of Birth for their newborn son back in 2002.
Menachem Binyamin’s mother, Naomi, says she specifically requested that consular officials list her son’s place of birth as Israel. Consular officials refused this request, the Zivotofskys say. Instead, Menachem Binyamin’s passport shows only that he was born in Jerusalem. “If a US citizen is born in Tel Aviv, his passport will designate his place of birth as Israel. But in the case of Jerusalem, the US Consular Department will not give the country of birth as Israel,” Menachem Binyamin’s father told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.