The National Council of Young Israel today expressed great disappointment after a federal appeals court invalidated a federal law which mandates that a Jerusalem-born American citizen can self-identify as born in “Israel” on his or her U.S. passport. The appeals court appears to have ignored the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that Congress had the right to pass such a law.

The National Council of Young Israel noted that during the court’s deliberations on this case, the justices apparently failed to consider the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which made it U.S. law to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The court’s decision appears to controvert the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which gives extensive and full recognition of a united Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The following is a statement from Farley Weiss, President of the National Council of Young Israel:

“The National Council of Young Israel is profoundly disappointed that the U.S. Circuit of Appeals ruled as unconstitutional a duly enacted law. It is incredibly ironic that despite the State Department’s objection to the law, the previous Administration, which was in place when Congress passed the bill, did not exercise its right to veto it. The law, which is consistent with congressional authority over naturalization and international commerce, directed the State Department to issue passports to American citizens born in Jerusalem with the option to identify the birth country as Israel. The National Council of Young Israel strongly believes that not only does this policy comply with the U.S. Constitution, but it is also consistent with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which was also duly enacted into law.

“For some reason, it appears that every sovereign nation in the world has the right to determine its capital city and have it recognized internationally as its capital, with the exception of Israel, which designated Jerusalem as its capital in 1950. Jerusalem is the indisputable capital of the State of Israel and should be listed as such for any American that is born there. With its recent ruling, the federal appeals court essentially denied the legitimate rights of American citizens born in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem. U.S. nationals born in Jerusalem should be able to proudly proclaim that their rightful birthplace is the State of Israel, and no court decision should impede that right. In the event that the plaintiffs chose to appeal this adverse ruling, we would urge the Supreme Court to do the right thing and overturn the decision of the U.S. Circuit of Appeals.”

Although the general rule for American citizens born abroad is that their U.S. passports list their country of birth as their place of birth, the only mandatory exception is for American citizens born in Jerusalem. The U.S. Department of State refuses to list “Israel” as the place of birth for American citizens born in Jerusalem because it claims that doing so would interfere with the President’s authority to “recognize foreign sovereigns.” Instead the State Department lists “Jerusalem” as the place of birth.

Menachem Zivotofsky is an American citizen born in Jerusalem shortly after the law was passed in 2002. His parents requested that the place of birth on his U.S. passport be listed as “Israel.” The State Department refused, and instead listed “Jerusalem.” Prior to moving to Israel, the Zivotofskys were members of the Young Israel Shomrai Emunah of Greater Washington.

The National Council of Young Israel has played an active role in this case from the outset and has been vocal in decrying the discriminatory practice that adversely affected Menachem Zivotofsky and countless other people like him.

In addition to playing a key role in establishing the Association of Proud American Citizens Born in Jerusalem, the National Council of Young Israel joined with a number of other Jewish organizations and filed a Brief Amici Curiae with the Supreme Court. The National Council of Young Israel was also instrumental in creating a website, www.borninjerusalem.org, which provided people with an opportunity to get information about the case, express support, and contact their Senators and Congressional representatives about the case.

Weiss noted that in July 1999, 84 Senators wrote a letter to then-President Clinton and urged him to comply with the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act (a copy of the letter is attached). Among the signatories of the letter, which was spearheaded by Republican Senator John Kyl of Arizona and Democratic/Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, were current Secretary of State John Kerry, current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, and current Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services Carl Levin. In addition, Senators Charles Schumer, Edward Kennedy, John McCain, and Rick Santorum signed the letter.

In their letter, the Senators noted that the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act “contains a statement of U.S. policy that is the law of the land and is not subject to waiver: Jerusalem should remain united and should be recognized as Israel’s capital, with our Embassy located there.” The Senators noted that the waiver provision only applies to the relocation of the embassy, not to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

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