Occupied Jerusalem: Israel’s government on Sunday approved plans to install a cable car to Jerusalem’s Old City, a project likely to anger Palestinians and much of the international community.
The plan would see a former railway station in west Jerusalem linked by cable car to the Old City in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.
It would stop at near Al Buraq Wall, traversing some 1.4 kilometres.
Current estimates say the cable car will begin operating in 2021.
At a special meeting held at Al Buraq Wall, the cabinet approved the first phase of the plan expected to cost some 200 million shekels ($56 million, 50 million euros), a tourism ministry statement said.
Al Buraq Wall is the last remnant of the supporting wall of the second Jewish temple, built by King Herod and destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.
Muslims believe Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) tied his winged animal to this wall before his ascent to heaven.
Jews took it over and call it the Wailing Wall or the Western Wall.
It is situated below Al Haram Al Sharif, Islam’s third holiest site.
The meeting was held at the site to incite Palestinians ahead of Israel’s capture of the Old City 50 years ago in the Six-Day War.
The anniversary comes against the backdrop of growing violence in the Palestinian territories in response to an uptick in Jewish raids on Al Haram Al Sharif.
Israel has been imposing restrictions on Palestinians from accessing the Muslim site—the third holiest in Islam— to pave the way for more colonists to raid the holy shrine and perform their Jewish and Talmudic rituals inside the holy site.
Under a status quo agreement, Jews may visit Al Haram Al Sharif, but may not perform religious rituals there.
Palestinians say that Israel has been conducting a systematic campaign against Palestinians, specifically in Occupied Jerusalem.
Israel has also banned Palestinians from burying their dead in specific parts of Bab Al Rahma cemetery, a resting place for many of the city’s historic figures.
Israel has also removed Arabic signage from many streets in Occupied Jerusalem replacing them instead with Hebrew signs in an attempt to Judaise the city and erase any Palestinian or Muslim identity.
The status of Jerusalem is among the most sensitive issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Israeli infrastructure projects in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank draw harsh criticism from the Palestinians and many in the international community.
In 2015, France-based utility giant Suez Environnement said that, because of political sensitivities, it had decided not to take part in the project.
Another example of such controversy occurred last week, when Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that European diplomats declined to attend a tour of new Israeli rail tunnels because part of the line crosses the Occupied West Bank.
Israeli colonies in the West Bank and east Jerusalem are seen as illegal under international law, and are a major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.
Despite that, Israel continues to build colonies, routinely demolishes Palestinian homes and carries out extrajudicial killings of Palestinians with little or no reproachment from Washington.
The US dedicates nearly one-fifth of its entire US foreign aid budget to Israel, which Palestinians point to as proof that Washington is not an impartial broker.
Israel receives about $3b in direct foreign assistance each year amounting to nearly $10.2m each day.
The developments also come amid a renewed push for peace by US President Donald Trump.
He visited Palestine last week to meet with Israeli and Palesitnian leaders.
A three-way meeting between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was for “a later date”, according to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Trump has vowed to do whatever is necessary to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians — something he has called “the ultimate deal” — but has given little indication of how he could revive negotiations that collapsed in 2014.
When he met Abbas this month in Washington, he stopped shortly of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of US policy.
He has since spoken in support of Palestinian “self-determination”.
