‘They won’t even talk to us’: US Embassy in Jerusalem abuses American-Israelis, refuses service – report

World Israel News called the Embassy early Monday morning for clarification and was told a press spokesperson would return the call before noon, but no one did.

By World Israel News Staff

Several dual American-Israeli citizens were treated callously Monday morning outside the US Embassy in Jerusalem, where employees refused to provide pre-arranged services, Yeshiva World News (YWN) reported.

According to the report, young families with newborns arrived to register their babies for emergency passports, as they were planning to travel to the US for the upcoming Passover holiday, which begins this year on the evening of April 5th.

Appointments for that morning had been scheduled, they told YWN, but they were refused entry and told that the “rules had changed” as of that day: any person without previously documented US citizenship could not receive an emergency passport.

While the parents held proof of citizenship and their children were eligible, the new rules precluded the newborns from being given passports, YWN reported.

According to the parents, some of whom had babies as young as a few days old, they tried reasoning with the Embassy staff, stressing that their appointments were made very recently and no one had notified them of any changes. “They won’t even talk to us,” one said.

“In the unseasonably hot March sun, the new moms and their babies sweltered outside with no proper place to sit, while the men tried to reason with the employees, but to no avail,” the report said.

”I have five other children at home; I had to arrange a babysitter to leave home at 6:40 am,” Baruch Reisman told YWN. “We arrived for our appointment and were sent away. I am extremely disappointed that this is how the Embassy treated my wife and I, who are both American citizens.”

“We are American citizens and have the legal right to be helped. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told to get lost,” said another disappointed US citizen. “Our experience at the embassy leaves me wondering: what advantage does being American give me?”

Another parent said: “My child has the legal right to an American passport. If American embassies don’t uphold the law and honor their word, we’re in trouble. We had a legitimately scheduled appointment, yet we were treated like criminals.”

The Embassy employees inside the building seemed polite and professional, one parent said, but the staff at the entrance made it impossible to meet with them.

Judging from the photos, the rejected US citizens were visibly Orthodox Jews.

World Israel News called the Embassy early Monday morning for clarification and was told a press spokesperson would return the call before noon, but no one did.

DiscriminationUS CitizensUS embassy in IsraelUS-Israel relations