US court allows 'Jerusalem, Israel' on passports [pg.5]

By MATTHEW WAGNER
The US Court of Appeals allowed a lawsuit against the US State Department demanding that the word "Israel" appear on US passports issued in Jerusalem to US citizens. In Zivotofsky vs. Secretary of State, the parents of a US citizen born in Jerusalem are suing to have his place of birth listed in his US passport as "Israel" instead of Jerusalem. The case was transferred to the district court for further hearings to determine whether the appearance of the word Israel in such passports would have a significant impact upon American foreign policy. The court will also scrutinize the inconsistency between the passport policy and the issuance of death certificates by the American embassy in Tel Aviv which lists "Jerusalem, Israel" when appropriate. Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, talking to The Jerusalem Post from the US, said he welcomed the ruling by the appeals court which will allow this litigation to continue. "We do believe that the best course of action for all concerned would be for the US administration to withdraw from further litigation and to implement the sensible policy urged upon it by Congress on multiple occasions and simply have passports for US citizens born in Jerusalem state their birth country as Israel."