Committee approves controversial J’lem Old City cable car project
The Housing Cabinet approved on Monday a controversial 1.4 km.-long cable car project for Jerusalem’s Old City that will help visitors access the Western Wall.
The move to ease traffic congestion to one of Israel’s most popular sites, both for citizens and tourists, has generated controversy at home and abroad.
Opponents fear the cable car will mar the Old City’s historic landscape. The Old City is also one of the flash-points for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and any building project is often routinely condemned by the international community and the Palestinians.
Once it is built, the cable cars will be able to transport some 3,000 people an hour in both directions from Jerusalem’s First Station to the Western Wall, which draws about 135,000 visitors a week.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said that the project goes far beyond transportation and tourism, and is a national initiative to make the area accessible to all. After waiting 2,000 years for the Western Wall, traffic jams shouldn’t prevent people from visiting it, Kahlon said.
Jerusalem Affairs Minister
Ze’ev Elkin said, “This is a strategic project to promote tourism in the Old City. Step by step, we are transforming a vision into a new reality.”
The NGO Emek Shaveh, which works to preserve cultural heritage, has opposed the project. Its CEO, Jonathan Mizrahi, said that the group plans to appeal the decision to the High Court of Justice, noting that a project of this importance should not be approved by a transitional government.
“The appeal to the High Court is intended to prevent the destructive impact that a cable car will have on the Old City landscape and on the fragile political situation in Jerusalem,” Emek Shaveh said in a statement.
“The government has not been able to approve budgets for the disabled and for health, yet it manages to approve a budget of NIS 220 million for a tourism venture,” the NGO added. “This indeed summarizes the priorities of the outgoing government.” •