(October 28, 2020 / JNS) U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem will be allowed to list “Jerusalem, Israel” as their place of birth on their U.S. passport, alluded the Trump administration on Wednesday.
Politico first reported the development, citing a U.S. official, adding that the announcement could be made as soon as Thursday.
Despite the United States recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv months later, Americans born in Jerusalem have still been unable to list “Jerusalem, Israel” as their place of birth on U.S. passports.
The U.S. official told Politico that the new policy, at least as of Wednesday, is that U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem can request to have Israel listed as the country or just keep it as “Jerusalem.”
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the executive branch has the power to grant recognition of sovereign states. While at the time the ruling was a victory for the Obama administration, which had been upholding a policy recognizing no state as having sovereignty over Jerusalem, it now has allowed the Trump administration to change course on the passport issue.
