{"id":2194,"date":"2026-10-05T14:59:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T14:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emekshaveh.org\/en\/?p=2194"},"modified":"2026-10-05T14:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T14:59:06","slug":"cable-car-alert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emekshaveh.org\/en\/cable-car-alert\/","title":{"rendered":"Alert: Jerusalem Cable Car Project Advances; Authorities Crack Down on Palestinian Olive Harvest in Wadi Rababa\/Hinnom Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a highly concerning development, Emek Shaveh has learned that the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) is planning to contract a\u00a0company\u00a0based in Italy\u00a0to serve as a consultant for the construction of\u00a0a\u00a0cable car from\u00a0the\u00a0West Jerusalem neighbourhood of Baka to a settlers-run visitors center\u00a0slated to be built at the entrance to\u00a0Silwan\/City of David across from Dung Gate. The\u00a0notice of\u00a0<\/a>intent<\/a>\u00a0was published\u00a0on September\u00a014th (in the midst of the Jewish High Holidays season)\u00a0by the\u00a0JDA\u00a0to award a contract,\u00a0foregoing a need for a tender,\u00a0to a\u00a0company\u00a0named\u00a0ROPES: Ropeway Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Download as a PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

ROPES GmBH (registered in Italy as Ropes S.r.l.) is a ropeway engineering consultancy based in South Tyrol, Italy. The firm provides line calculation, static and safety analysis, audit and certification, traffic planning and master planning for alpine and urban environments. It belongs to the Ropeway Project Group, a network of six companies (including the accredited inspection body WPK Austria) that reports more than 50 completed ropeway projects worldwide, in Turkey, India, Germany, and more locations.<\/p>\n

The development comes\u00a0four years after the\u00a0High Court<\/a>\u00a0upheld\u00a0the cable car plan in 2022, despite the fact that it was advanced in an irregular planning\u00a0process and\u00a0was met with\u00a0massive public opposition by Israeli\u00a0heritage professionals,\u00a0planners and internationally renowned architects. In the interim we are aware that the implementation of the project\u00a0has\u00a0been delayed at least partly because the political nature of the project\u00a0\u00a0deterred foreign<\/a>\u00a0companies from engaging with it.<\/p>\n

The progression of this project should be scrutinised in light of the\u00a02025 UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry’s<\/a> findings on the use of archaeology and tourism to advance the settlement enterprise in East Jerusalem, particularly in Silwan and the City of David. This is especially relevant given the cable car\u2019s planned route and its connection to these sites. Furthermore, the\u00a0ICJ\u2019s 2024 Advisory Opinion<\/a>\u00a0found that \u201cthe Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,\u201d and held that all States have an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from Israel\u2019s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, or to render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Court further specified that this includes an obligation to Member States \u201cnot to recognize any changes in the physical character or demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the territory occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967, including East Jerusalem,\u201d therefore \u201cto abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory\u00a0or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory\u201d and\u00a0\u201cto take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” (para. 278).<\/p>\n

Jerusalem\u2019s proposed cable car: developments and background:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The planned 1.4-kilometre route would\u00a0link\u00a0the First Station complex in West Jerusalem with Mount Zion and terminate at the proposed\u00a0Kedem visitors center<\/a>, the 16,000 square meter tourism hub advanced by the Elad settler organization\u00a0to be built at\u00a0the entrance to Silwan and the City of David site, opposite the Old City\u2019s Dung Gate.\u00a0Approximately 15 pylons, reaching up to 26 metres, would carry cars across the Hinnom Valley and above Palestinian homes in the neighbourhood of Silwan. Its advertised capacity is approximately 3,000 passengers per hour.<\/p>\n

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of Jerusalem Nir Barkat\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0that the purpose of the project was to encourage users\u00a0to\u00a0\u201cunderstand who is truly the landlord of the City.\u201d<\/p>\n

The controversial plan was promoted by the Ministry of Tourism and the JDA, and advanced through the National Infrastructure Committee (NIC), in a process which\u00a0largely circumvented considered\u00a0public objection, in contrast to standard planning procedures. Over a thousand objections\u00a0had been\u00a0submitted to the plan. Seventy Israeli public intellectuals, archaeologists, and architects signed a public statement against the plan, and\u00a027 internationally renowned architects\u00a0sent\u00a0a letter<\/a>\u00a0to the Israeli government calling it to halt the project that will\u00a0subordinate\u00a0Jerusalem\u2019s historic landscape to short-term political interests and dramatically alter the Old City Basin, which\u00a0\u201cconstitutes a heritage asset for all of humanity.\u201d\u00a0Signatories included Santiago Calatrava, Thom Mayne, Peter Eisenman, Ron Arad and Moshe Safdie.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJerusalem is no Disneyland\u201d, a demonstration against the cable car project in front of the High Court during a hearing of the petitions against the cable car (29.6.2020).<\/p><\/div>\n

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In a\u00a0New York Times article<\/a>\u00a0about the cable car project, renowned Israeli architect Moshe Safdie called the project \u201ca total outrage against a fragile city\u201d.<\/p>\n

Emek Shaveh convened a group of organizations opposing the cable car forming the \u201cCoalition for the Preservation of the Historic Basin.\u201d The residents of Silwan, Emek Shaveh, Adam Teva V\u2019Din (an environmental organization), and the Jewish Karaite Community petitioned against the plan,\u00a0but in May 2022 the\u00a0High Court rejected<\/a>\u00a0the petitions and greenlighted the project.<\/p>\n

Despite the legal\u00a0victory, the project\u2019s implementation\u00a0has faced\u00a0difficulties,\u00a0chief among them\u00a0the failure to secure the necessary international participation.\u00a0In 2024 it was\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that the French company CNA and the Swiss company, Histec Engineering, pulled out of the project.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, in July 2023, the Jerusalem Municipality\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that it\u00a0will\u00a0expropriate\u00a010,000 square meters for the project, much of which\u00a0included\u00a0land belonging to Palestinian residents of Silwan.\u00a0Attorney Sami Arshid, who represents the Palestinian residents of Silwan against the expropriations,\u00a0said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most unnecessary project in the history of the city. The residents of Silwan and the Old City, like most experts in Israel and around the world, see it as a serious hazard to the city\u2019s urban heritage. The expropriation of properties and homes will cause severe harm to the residents and this in order to establish a megalomaniacal project that harms the history, urban heritage and landscape of the Old City of Jerusalem and its environs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2025, the Ministry of Transport joined the Ministry of Tourism in advancing the cable car. The new cost assessment provided by Netivei Yisrael (the national transport infrastructure company) was\u00a0estimated\u00a0at\u00a0473 million\u00a0NIS, more than double the initial budget for the project.<\/p>\n

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Emek Shaveh\u2019s Response:<\/u><\/strong> As we have repeatedly stated, this project threatens the Palestinian communities of Silwan and the timeless landscape of Jerusalem\u2019s historic core. Over the years, its planners have failed to demonstrate that the cable car will meet any transportation need. It is clear that the project\u2019s central motivation is to consolidate the settlers\u2019 hold on Silwan and adjacent areas as part of an effort to displace Palestinians from the Historic Basin and reshape Jerusalem\u2019s cultural landscape.<\/p>\n

More specifically, the project aims to reroute tourism away from the established routes through the Muslim and Christian Quarters, bypassing the historic approaches through Damascus and Jaffa Gates and seeks to funnel visitors through the settler-controlled City of David site.<\/p>\n

If implemented, the plan will marginalize the Muslim and Christian Quarters and threaten their economies with collapse. The initiative is underscored by a desire to undermine Jerusalem\u2019s multicultural and multifaith character which has defined it for thousands of years and transform the Historic Basin into a space dominated by an ultranationalist, exclusivist vision for the city.<\/p>\n

In light of this, Emek Shaveh calls on professionals in Israel and abroad to:<\/p>\n