JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The US embassy in Jerusalem has provided deteriorating services for US citizens in Israel ever since the onset of coronavirus, but recently the situation has become outrageous, as American citizens seeking to leave Israel and return to the US cannot even register their newborn babies for passports.
The embassy’s website enables people by appointment to register for emergency passports which would enable them to fly back, but when people arrived with their newborns this week, they were refused entry into the embassy. The embassy employees claimed that the “rules had changed” and that people without documented US citizenship would not be able to receive emergency passports. This move effectively strands US citizens in Israel for Pesach, since they cannot register their babies at the embassy according to the new rules.
One embassy official told a young couple seeking to register their infant that “there are too many Americans.” When the US citizens tried to argue with them, they threatened to call security unless the citizens walked away. Other employees also acted rudely towards applicants, who were left to wait but didn’t receive passports.
Oneof those mistreated said that, “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. Our experience at the embassy leaves me wondering: what advantage does being American give me?”
Another person who was withheld a passport complained that “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.”
Rena Adler, who was treated discourteously and was sent home, stated that “For the first time in my life, I am embarrassed to be an American citizen.”