Israel approves controversial Jerusalem cable car project

JERUSALEM: Israel’s government on Sunday gave the green light to a controversial cable car project planned to run between West Jerusalem and the Old City in annexed east Jerusalem.

The decision came on the eve of the US moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem.Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.

The Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state but Israel has declared the whole of the city as its undivided capital.“The cable car project will change the face of Jerusalem, offering tourists and visitors easy and comfortable access to the Western Wall,” Israel’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said.

The Western Wall is one of the holiest sites in Judaism and lies in east Jerusalem — home to Christian and Muslim holy shrines.The 1.4-kilometre-long line (around one mile) will cost $56 million (43 million euros) and is planned to be up and running by 2021.