The last thing the Obama administration needs is more meddling in the Middle East peace process — and this time, the meddler is the US Supreme Court.
Over objections from the White House, the nation’s highest court said Monday it would decide if passports of Jerusalem-born American citizens can identify Israel as their place of birth.
The United States has refused to recognize Israel’s claim of sovereignty over the Holy City, and lists simply Jerusalem as the birthplace for Americans born there.
But the parents of Menachem Zivotofsky, 11, have been suing for years to get his American passport to identify his birthplace as “Jerusalem, Israel.”
The high court will hear the case during its term that starts in October, with a decision expected by June 2015, four months before Menachem’s bar mitzvah.
Spokesman Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations warned, “We believe it would be best not to rock the boat, in terms of promotion of political agendas from the United States.”