Israel Matzav

7-year old going to Supreme Court to list Israel on his passport

The parents of 7-year old Menachem Zivotovsky have appealed to the United States Supreme Court to allow their Jerusalem-born American citizen to list Israel as the country of his birth on his US passport.

After his birth in September 2003, the family of Menachem Zivotofsky brought suit against the U.S. government under a 2002 law that allows Americans born in Jerusalem to list the city as in "Israel."

President George W. Bush had signed the law, but stated that it was "advisory" because it interfered with the president's right to conduct foreign policy.

Alyza Lewin, a lawyer for the family, said in a news release Wednesday that the family asked the Supreme Court to review a decision last year by a U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to uphold a lower court ruling that the judiciary did not have jurisdiction in the case because the U.S. Constitution exclusively grants the power to set foreign policy and recognize foreign governments to the executive branch.

The government has until Dec. 29 to respond, Lewin said.

U.S. passports do not list a country for those born in Jerusalem because of fears that recognizing the city as Israeli would prejudge Israeli-Palestinian peace negotations.

I've discussed the Zivotovsky case previously here and here.

Labels: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Zivotovsky

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:25 PM