The White House forgot its own policy on Jerusalem Friday — at least temporarily.
The administration initially sent out a copy of President Barack Obama’s remarks at former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ funeral in Jerusalem, indicating that the remarks had been given in Jerusalem, Israel. But later Friday afternoon, the press office sent out a correction to the previous email, striking out “Israel” from the header of the transcript.
Obama delivered the eulogy at Israeli national cemetery Mount Herzl.
U.S. policy has long refrained from recognizing any nation’s sovereignty over Jerusalem. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital, with Israel declaring in 1980 the city was its undivided capital. A 2015 Supreme Court decision reaffirmed U.S. practice that forbids Americans born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their country of birth on passports.
The U.S. embassy in Israel is in Tel Aviv, but the country maintains a consulate in Jerusalem. Congress passed a law in 1995 calling for the embassy to be moved to Jerusalem, but presidents since then have used their waiver authority to prevent the change.