May 15, 2018
Jerusalem, Israel
The US Embassy move to Jerusalem was so big it covered up another big move that went barely noticed. That is, the United States ceremony included ", Israel" everywhere in the ceremony, against what has been its longstanding policy until now.
Until now the US State Department very vociferously refused to add the , Israel and insisted on leaving Jerusalem naked, with no name of country, as if it were an independent city/state all by itself.
Yet, if you look at the pictures below from the ceremony, Jerusalem, Israel is displayed all over the place and on all the swag and on the wall of the embassy itself.
Will the State Department now be changing all its documentation to read Jerusalem, Israel? they did even mention it directly in their Facebook post..
If they are changing the policy, this could be as major a win for Israel as the embassy move is...
Until now the US State Department very vociferously refused to add the , Israel and insisted on leaving Jerusalem naked, with no name of country, as if it were an independent city/state all by itself.
Yet, if you look at the pictures below from the ceremony, Jerusalem, Israel is displayed all over the place and on all the swag and on the wall of the embassy itself.
Will the State Department now be changing all its documentation to read Jerusalem, Israel? they did even mention it directly in their Facebook post..
If they are changing the policy, this could be as major a win for Israel as the embassy move is...
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Good catch, but meh.
ReplyDeletePutting the US Embassy to country X in a city implies recognition of that city as part of country X. Not having the ", Israel" would have been really weird.
No, it's actually quite significant (as much as any of this is significant), look at tho logo of the US Consulate in Jerusalem, it does not say what country Jerusalem is (and yes it looks kinda weird):
Deletehttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KSrl7YtYpb4/UvDD6nG4riI/AAAAAAAAADk/YFugTqAwnVs/w530-h530-n-rw/123.jpg
Next question is whether they will now allow "Jerusalem, Israel" on US passports for US citizens born in Jerusalem
The consulate in east Jerusalem dates back to 1840 (not a typo), has nothing to do with Israel, does not report to the embassy, but straight to Washington.
DeleteMaybe that should be reviewed, but that's another story.
It is a huge deal. There have been lawsuits to get Passports to say place of birth Jerusalem, Israel. To date they just say Jerusalem.
ReplyDeleteWill that be changing?
Our new baby girl will have her birth registered at the end of June. We'll see what her papers say...
ReplyDeleteIYH, bshaa tova
Deletenote: I wrote this post last night in advance for scheduled posting (as I do for many of my posts due to time restraints during the day). Since I wrote this, last night, the issue has already been brought to the forefront and a number of ministers have raised the issue and called on Netanyahu to work with the US to ensure that official paperwork will say Jerusalem, Israel. It is not clear at this point what the State Department will do, but I would not be surprised if this change comes soon on all official documents.
ReplyDeleteJust before I read your posting, I read another referring to whether the State Department policy regarding recording birthplaces as "Jerusalem, Israel" would be changed.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that someone else beat me to commenting on this. However, I am hoping that the State Department will recognize reality and change this policy.