Zivotofsky v. Secretary of State

Menachem Zivotofsky (plaintiff) was born in Jerusalem to two United States citizen parents, making him a United States citizen as well. Zivotofsky’s mother applied for his United States passport and consular report of birth at the United States embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel. Zivotofsky’s mother requested that his birthplace not only list Jerusalem as the city of birth, but also Israel as the country of birth. Congress had previously enacted a statute directing that the executive branch could not use funds for the publication of government documents that list countries with capitals if the publication did not list Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. However, the United States president’s policy at that time was to express no view on whether Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, and when the statute was passed, the president expressed the view that the law was merely advisory to the executive branch because the executive branch held the exclusive power to recognize foreign states. The United States diplomatic officials in Tel Aviv informed Zivotofsky’s mother that the United States State Department policy forbade listing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and it issued Zivotofsky’s documents with only the city of Jerusalem listed as the place of birth. Zivotofsky, through his parents, filed suit against the United States secretary of state (defendant), seeking to compel the inclusion of Israel as the birthplace of Zivotofsky on his passport and consular report of birth in accordance with the statute passed by Congress. The district court dismissed the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and Zivotofsky appealed.