U.S. court: Jerusalem does not belong to Israel

Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, United States. ruled that the law that allows American citizens born in Jerusalem to mention in their passport that they were born in Israel is unconstitutional. According to the judges, the assertion that Jerusalem is Israel is only under the authority of the President of the United States.

The case was brought to court by the parents of an American boy named Menachem Zivotofsky, born in a hospital in Jerusalem shortly after the law was enacted in 2002. Menachem's parents wanted to record his birthplace as Israel, but because the government refuses to recognize the sovereignty of any nation in Jerusalem since Israel's formation in 1948, in the child's U.S. passport only "Jerusalem" was written as his place of birth.

Up until now, the U.S. Department refrained from enforcing the law, approved by Congress in 2002, allowing U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to register their place of birth as Israel. President George W. Bush said at the time that the Congress can not dictate to the government its foreign policy. The Obama administration has adopted the same policy and today the situation remains as it was.

Federal Judge Karen La-Kraft Henderson, explained the judges' decision and wrote that "appointed by President Bush conducted a comprehensive examination of the history of the Presidents of the United States, and the test indicates that from the start of term of the first president George Washington, the president was given the exclusive authority to recognize foreign countries. "

In their decision, the justices emphasized that the Supreme Court has stated more than once that the exclusive jurisdiction to recognize foreign countries is in the hands of the President. The judges added that "the law recognizes Jerusalem was formulated and approved hastily, without considering the long-standing foreign policy of the government toward Jerusalem."

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