After renewing her British passport at the beginning of this month, a woman with dual Israeli-British citizenship found that her place of birth had become the "occupied Palestinian territories" in her passport, after it was in the past Jerusalem.
Ayelet Balaban expressed her astonishment at what happened, noting that she initially thought it was a mistake, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.
Balaban initially thought she made a mistake filling out the online form, or perhaps the fact that she now lives in the relatively new village of Ganei Tal, founded by settlers who left Gush Katif in Gaza when Israel withdrew from the Strip in 2005, is the reason for the change, according to the report. As reported by The Times of Israel.
According to Balaban, her brother's passport, which was issued two years ago in Britain, identifies his place of birth as Jerusalem;
This suggests that any possible change in British policy has only taken place recently.
Haaretz quoted this woman as saying that she had contacted Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador in London, as well as the Zionist organization "Nevish Benefish", which is overcoming the difficulties of immigration to Israel;
But she hasn't received any answers yet.
This is how Balaban's new passport appeared (the Israeli press)
According to the website of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, the United Kingdom "has long withheld recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, pending final determination of its status."
The British government recognizes "the de facto authority of Israel over West Jerusalem";
But it considers East Jerusalem "under Israeli occupation."
Balaban's agency contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which promised to investigate the incident.
I also contacted the British Embassy in Israel, which has not responded yet, according to what was reported by Ha'aretz.