The Jewish Week Reported:
At issue is the right of Naomi Zivotofsky to insist that the American passport she requested for her son Menachem from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv list “Israel” as his place of birth. He was born in Jerusalem in October 2002, about three weeks after President George W. Bush signed a bill directing the State Department to list “Israel” on the passports of American children born in Jerusalem if their parents requested it.
But the State Department denied the request, citing Bush’s comments at the bill signing in which he said the law “impermissibly interferes with the president’s constitutional authority to conduct the nation’s foreign affairs ….”
Menachem’s parents, Naomi and Ari Zivotofsky, are both American citizens and they sued the State Department the following September to compel it follow the law.
Consider the Obama administration’s hypocrisy for a moment. This was the crew that accused Bush of shredding the Constitution.
Not surprising, virtually every Jewish pro-Israel group signed an amicus brief (the Anti-Defamation League, the Zionist Organization of America, and the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists plan to submit “friend of the court” briefs due this week. Other groups including including the Union of Orthodox Congregations and the National Council of Young Israel are signing on to at least one of those briefs). In the U.S. Senate more than 25 senators signed onto a brief in support of Menachem Zivotofsky. When you get Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) on the same page, you know this is a no-brainer for friends of Israel…
To read the rest of this article, please visit : Right Turn – Washington Post
Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Washington Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.