by Marissa Newman and AP

June 8, 2015

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Monday urged US President Barack Obama to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, hours after the US Supreme Court struck down a law to permit Americans born in Jerusalem to list their birthplace as Israel in their US passports.

The landmark ruling, which backed the president’s official stance on Jerusalem, was also fiercely criticized by MK Michael Oren — formerly the Israeli ambassador to the US — while the Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

“Just as Washington is the capital of the US, London is the capital of England, and Paris the capital of France — so too Jerusalem was and always will be the capital of Israel,” Barkat said in a statement.

To read the rest of this article in the Times of Israel, click here.