by Jacob Kornbluh

June 8, 2015

As if the the two allies were in for yet another fight in the already strained relationship between Jerusalem and DC, the decision made by the Supreme Court in the Jerusalem passport case has lit the fire again over the status of Jerusalem.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, by a 6-3 majority, struck down a law that would allow American citizens born in Jerusalem to have Israel listed as their birthplace on passports, handing a victory to President Barack Obama’s administration’s foreign policy approach. The White House argued that the president has sole authority to provide American recognition of who controls Jerusalem. The ruling signified the position that has always been held by the Executive Branch — that only the President has that authority.

“Congress cannot command the president to contradict an earlier recognition determination in the issuance of passports,” Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who often casts the deciding vote in close cases, wrote in the majority opinion.

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