Obama Solicitor General Donald Verrilli is comparing Russia to Israel and says that Israel Has No Claim to Jerusalem, like Russia has no claim to Crimea. Huh?
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| Obama Solicitor General Donald Verrilli says Israel Has No Claim to Jerusalem |
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Verrilli was referring to the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Russia forcefully seized earlier this year.
“The position of the executive [Obama] is that we recognize, as a practical matter, the authority of Israel over West Jerusalem,” Verrilli argued, according to court transcripts. “With respect to the rest of Jerusalem, the issue is far more complicated.”
“I do think, for example, Your Honor,” Verrilli said to Justice Samuel Alito, “if [we] were to start issuing passports to people born in Crimea tomorrow that identified Russia as the country of birth, that would carry obvious implications for our foreign policy position, and it would contradict the foreign policy position in a way that could be quite deleterious.”
As with the disputes over Crimea’s status, stating that Jerusalem is part of Israel also would interfere with the White House’s policy positions, Verrilli argued.
As arguments proceeded in the case, the justices appeared to split along the justices’ traditional conservative and liberal lines.
At multiple points, Justice Sonia Sotamayor appeared to argue that it would be a “lie” for the U.S. government to acknowledge on a passport that Jerusalem is in Israel.
Putting “Jerusalem, Israel” on a U.S. passport is a lie since the executive branch does not believe it to be true as a matter of policy, Sotamayor said.