The United States is facing an unconventional challenge as it seeks to project credibility as a neutral peacemaker between the Israelis and Palestinians: a case before the Supreme Court involving a 12-year-old boy.
On Monday, the nine justices were to consider whether the administration of President Barack Obama must follow a law enacted by Congress that allows U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to have Israel listed as their birthplace on passports.
What appears to be a dry legal question is a foreign-policy minefield for the U.S. government, which has refused to enforce the law ever since it was enacted in 2002. The concern for the United States is that the law could be interpreted as an endorsement of Israel's hotly disputed sovereignty claim over Jerusalem, a city that contains sites considered holy in Judaism, Islam and Christianity.