not permitted to bring suit under the Alien Tort Statute or general admiralty law. Definition of "foreign state" The FSIA only applies to lawsuits involving a foreign state. The FSIA defines (28 U.S.C. § 1603(a)) "foreign state" to include three entities: A foreign state A political subdivision of a foreign state An agency or instrumentality of a foreign state "Agency or instrumentality" is then defined (28 U.S.C. § 1603(b)) as any entity which has a separate legal identity and is either: an "organ of a foreign state or political subdivision", or has a "majority of ... shares or other ownership interest" owned by a foreign state or political subdivision. In Dole Food Co. v. Patrickson, 538 U.S. 468 (2003), the Supreme Court determined that in order for a government owned corporation to qualify as a foreign state under the FSIA because a majority of its "shares or other ownership interest" are owned by a foreign state or political subdivision, the foreign state must directly own a majority of the corporation's shares. In Dole, two chemical corporations indirectly owned by the Israeli government sought to remove a case from a Hawaii state court to the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii on the basis that the FSIA applied. The Supreme Court concluded that because the Israeli government did not directly own a majority of the companies shares, the corporations could not be considered foreign states and the FSIA therefore did not apply. The court specifically rejected the companies' argument that Israel's majority interest in the companies through indirect ownership qualified as an "other ownership interest" under the FSIA or that Israel's actual control over the corporations would qualify. In reaching its conclusion, the court also held that the determination as to whether a defendant qualifies as a foreign state is made at the time the plaintiff files the complaint. There had been disagreement among the courts as to whether an individual government official is covered by the FSIA, and therefore immune to suit according to its provisions or whether traditional (pre-FSIA) common law rules of immunity apply. The majority of Federal Courts of Appeals had concluded that individuals are covered under § 1603(b) as "agencies or instrumentalities" of foreign states. See In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, 538 F.3d 71 (2d Cir. 2008) (finding Saudi government officials to be entitled to immunity under the FSIA). Other