Religion & Law

State Department Allows "Israel" To Be Listed As Birthplace On Passports of Americans Born In Jerusalem

By Howard M. Friedman

Last Wednesday, Politco reported:

The Trump administration is expected to soon announce that the U.S. passports of Americans born in Jerusalem can now mention Israel as the country of birth.

The decision, confirmed by a U.S. official Wednesday, is the latest by President Donald Trump that favors Israel in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It could be revealed as early as Thursday, just days before next week?s U.S. presidential election, and it could help Trump as he seeks to turn out evangelical Christians and other voters in his base who strongly support Israel.

Public confirmation of this policy change appears to have been made through a Tweet by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reading:

Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump's policy, I am happy to announce U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem can now elect to list their place of birth as either "Jerusalem" or "Israel" on their passports. We remain committed to lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

As reported by Al Jazeera, yesterday US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman ceremonially presented the first such passport to Menachem Zivotofsky.

An attempt by Congress to change the passport policy was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2015 on the grounds that it infringed the President's exclusive power to recognize foreign governments. (See prior posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on October 31, 2020 (boomark / email).