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US Courts Will Not Determine Jerusalem's Fate

The latest US decision on the legal status of Jerusalem citizenship is just another round in the American political and legal battles over Jerusalem's fate.
A view of the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City is seen from the Mount of Olives January 24, 2011. Palestinian negotiators secretly told Israel it could keep swathes of occupied East Jerusalem, according to leaked documents that show Palestinians offering much bigger peace concessions than previously revealed. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXWZNK
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The question of how the birth of Menachem Zivotofsky should be registered, which was decided by a federal court in Washington on July 23, was not political. Anyone needing proof of that should only look back to the ruling of the US Supreme Court from March 26 of last year. If the Supreme Court believed that it was a political decision, it would have prevented the federal court from deciding the case. But the Supreme Court decided by an 8-1 majority that the decision was not political, but legal.

It was simply an administrative battle over who wields authority, and in this battle — and this battle alone — the US administration defeated the US Congress. It should also be noted that this was just a temporary victory. The case is headed back to the Supreme Court for further deliberation. In the meanwhile, however, it is clear that in a struggle that began a decade ago, the administration does have the authority to determine that the Zivotofsky child’s place of birth may well have been “Jerusalem,” but it was not necessarily “Israel.”

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