The Supreme Court has struck down a law that allowed Americans who were born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their birthplace on their passports.
In a 6-3 ruling, the court said that the law, passed by Congress in 2002 but not enforced by the Bush or Obama administrations, interferes with the president's constitutional right to recognize foreign nations. The U.S. State Department has a long-standing policy not to recognize any nation's authority over Jerusalem until Israelis and Palestinians resolve its status.
The case is seen as an important separation-of-powers ruling.
"The President," writes Justice Anthony Kennedy in the Majority opinion, " has the exclusive power to grant formal recognition to a foreign sovereign."
" The President, unlike Congress, also has the power to open diplomatic channels simply by engaging in direct diplomacy with foreign heads of state and their ministers. The Constitution thus assigns the President, not Congress, means to effect recognition on his own initiative."
The case was brought by a Jerusalem-born American boy named Menachem Zivotofsky and his parents.
NPR's Nina Totenberg had this background on the case when it was argued before the high court last November:
"Ever since the founding of Israel, the U.S. has taken the position that no country has sovereignty over Jerusalem until its status is negotiated in a Middle East peace deal. Israel's supporters in Congress, however, have tried to force a different policy, seeking to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and mandating that the U.S. Department of State allow U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their place of birth. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, however, have refused to comply with the passport mandate, contending it infringes on the president's foreign policy powers."
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
