Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The Supreme Court stepped into the fray Monday over whether Jerusalem is an international city or exclusively the property of Israel. The outcome of the dispute is likely to redefine which branch of the U.S. government has final authority over some issues of foreign policy.

The lawsuit that prompted oral arguments before the Supreme Court Monday involved a passport for a boy born in 2002 to American parents in Jerusalem.

When his parents went to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to get a passport for their newborn, they asked that his country of birth be listed as Israel.

The embassy staff refused, citing State Department policy. Instead, they wrote in Jerusalem.

A month before the boy, Menachem Zivotofsky, was born, Congress had passed a law ordering the State Department to list Israel as the country of birth for all U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem.

However, the State Department is part of the executive branch of government, not Congress. Under the Constitution, the president and his administration decide foreign policy.

The Supreme Court seeks to resolve the difference of opinion.

Nathan Lewin, attorney for the Zivotofskys, told the Supreme Court Monday the case should not be defined as political. Instead, American citizens born in Jerusalem should be allowed to have the identification they prefer on their passports.

“This is not a recognition case, this is a passport case,” he said. “We live in a system in which Congress passes the laws and the president is the instrument of foreign policy.”

Equally important is how the case could affect Mideast politics.

Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital despite the fact the United Nations and many countries refuse to recognize it.

East Jerusalem consists predominantly of Muslims while West Jerusalem is populated mostly by Jews. The 6,000-year-old city is the birth place of three major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Israel claimed the western part of the city since 1948 while Jordan says it annexed the eastern part of the city.

The Israelis took control of the entire city after the 1967 Six Day War. They base their government there, but no foreign embassies are located in Jerusalem.

Disputes over who should control Jerusalem remain a core issue in Mideast conflicts.

President Barack Obama acknowledged the tense standoff in a May 2010 speech on the Mideast peace process when he said, “Two wrenching and emotional issues remain: the future of Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refugees.”

So far, the State Department has tried to walk a middle ground when granting passports to children of Americans born in Jerusalem.

Their country of birth is listed as Jerusalem, despite the fact no one claims the city as a nation.

The Zivotofskys say in their lawsuit the policy should be changed.

The State Department says in its brief before the Supreme Court that foreign affairs, such as the status of passports, are a “political question” that fall under the “exclusive power” of the presidency.

“A passport is an official instrument of foreign policy through which the United States addresses foreign nations,” the State Department’s brief says.

Congress can enact passport legislation but the Constitution reserves foreign policy issues such as “the recognition of foreign states and their territorial sovereignty” to the presidency, the State Department’s brief says.

The Zivotofskys have framed their case around one simple request to the Supreme Court. They want the Supreme Court to tell the Obama administration to enforce the law approved by Congress.

In other words, their son’s passport should say he was born in Israel, not Jerusalem.

The president has exclusive authority over a “political question” only in cases “in which Congress has failed to set standards,” the Zivotofskys’ brief says.

Congress set the standard for passports of American citizens born in Jerusalem with the law it approved a month before their son’s birth, the Zivotofskys say.

About 50,000 American citizens were born in Jerusalem.

The Zivotofskys drew support in amicus briefs from several Jewish organizations, 28 senators and 11 members of the House of Representatives.

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