Contact B'nai B'rith

1120 20th Street NW, Suite 300N Washington, D.C. 20036

info@bnaibrith.org

202-857-6600

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is outraged over a federal appeals court ruling declaring unconstitutional a 2002 law allowing Americans born in Jerusalem to name Israel as their birth country in their U.S. passports. The court viewed the issue as a foreign policy matter to be dealt with by the executive branch.

In issuing its decision in Zivotifsky v. Secretary of State on July 25, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sided with current and previous administrations, which have resisted entreaties to officially declare Jerusalem part of Israel.

In an amicus brief, B’nai B’rith and other Jewish organizations argued that the law was in fact constitutional because passport information is merely for identification and not to be interpreted as a statement of U.S. foreign policy.

B’nai B’rith hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case on appeal and reverse the lower court’s decision. We will continue to monitor the situation and press for a more just, and logical, result for Americans born in Israel’s capital.