Press Releases
SECRETARY OF STATE POWELL SUED: “JERUSALEM POLICY” ALLEGED TO VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW
New York City – Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, announced the filing of a lawsuit to direct the State Department to comply with a federal law that requires the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The suit was filed by Ari Zivotofsky, Brooklyn born and living in Israel, who alleges that the State Department refused to issue his baby a passport listing Israel as his place of birth, even though the baby was born in Jerusalem.
Last September, Rep. Weiner's Israeli Capital Recognition Act was signed into law by President Bush as part of the State Department authorization, calling, for the first time, for the United States to provide official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Among the law's requirements is that the Secretary of State list Israel as the country of origin for U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem on passports, birth certificates, and certificates of nationality.
But according to Zivotofsky, it's not happening. Ari's baby, Menachem Binyamin, was born in Jerusalem after passage of the law, but when Naomi Siegman Zivotofsky went to get a passport for their child, the U.S. Embassy refused to list "Jerusalem, Israel" as Menachem's place of birth. Instead, under place of birth, the passport reads "Jerusalem," and nothing more.
Today, through his attorneys Nathan and Alyza Lewin, of Lewin & Lewin, LLP, Washington, D.C., Ari filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to compel the State Department to comply with the law. During the State Department authorization signing ceremony President Bush said that "U.S. policy regarding Jerusalem has not changed" and that the Jerusalem provisions "would, if construed as mandatory rather than advisory, impermissibly interfere with the president's constitutional authority to formulate the position of the United States, speak for the nation in international affairs, and determine the terms on which recognition is given to foreign states."
Ari, his attorneys, and Rep. Weiner vehemently disagree with the President's stated opinion. "There's no 'do over' clause in the Constitution," said Rep. Weiner. "President Bush misapprehends his authority if he believes he can re-write legislation once it has been signed into law. He had his chance to veto this bill if he so desired, but he didn't, and now his role is clear: execute it, as written."
“We are participating in this lawsuit on behalf of our son, Menachem Binyamin,” says Ari Zivotofsky, “with deep respect and gratitude toward the USA. Our sense of thanks to the people, President and Congress for their continued support of the State of Israel and, equally, for the freedom granted to live as Jews in this land is unbounded. But all of that good highlights the injustice perpetrated by the State Department in its failure to duly recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.”
Mr. Lewin, who has represented scores of Jewish clients in pro bono lawsuits, including several major constitutional cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, said, “How an American citizen is identified in a document used for international travel is up to Congress. The President may not hide behind his foreign policy authority to flout Congress’ directive.”
For thousands of years, Jews have recognized Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of Israel. The Israeli government made Jerusalem its official capital in 1949. However, it remains the only foreign capital in the world that the U.S. refuses to recognize.
Congressman Anthony D. Weiner
