A fifth international firm has withdrawn from a controversial plan to build a cable car connecting West Jerusalem to East Jerusalem. The proposed route threatens the seizure of land and property rights from dozens of Palestinian families.
The initiative appeared dormant for four years until late September. Weeks before Israel held elections on 27 October, the Jerusalem Development Authority issued a notice of intent to award a contract without a public tender to ROPES, a cable car engineering consultancy based in South Tyrol, Italy.
Stephan Obexer, chief executive of ROPES, told reporters that his company declined the consultancy work because of another commitment in India. ROPES did not answer questions about whether legal concerns over the location in occupied East Jerusalem influenced the decision, and the Jerusalem Development Authority did not respond to requests for comment.
The Israeli government approved the 1.4-kilometre cable car route in 2019, and the high court upheld it in 2022. The system would connect West Jerusalem to a planned 16,000-square-metre tourist complex promoted by Elad, a settler organisation aiming to consolidate Israeli control over Palestinian areas of occupied East Jerusalem. Israel occupied the Palestinian territories in 1967 and fully annexed East Jerusalem and the Old City in 1980, an annexation considered illegal under international law.
At least four other foreign companies, including three from France and one from Switzerland, have previously withdrawn from the project over its political sensitivity. The French government urged one firm not to participate in 2015. CNA, a French company, pulled out less than a year ago, followed by Switzerland’s Histec Engineering.
Despite these withdrawals, local authorities maintain the scheme is moving forward. A spokesperson for the Jerusalem Development Authority stated that the project continues according to plan and timetables following the high court dismissal of petitions. The spokesperson added that steps remain subject to the mandatory tenders law, with a tender expected in the coming months.
Palestinian communities and heritage groups have strongly opposed the development. Emek Shaveh stated that the project threatens Palestinian communities and Jerusalem’s historic core. Alon Arad, an archaeologist and the executive director of Emek Shaveh, said the project contradicts the historic principle that no large infrastructure should be built around the Old City. Arad pointed out that the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is cooperating with the scheme.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority stated that its involvement was limited to providing feedback on proposed alternatives. The Elad Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.
Architect Sari Kronish, director of the East Jerusalem department at Bimkom, an Israeli planning rights organisation, said buildings home to roughly 450 residents lie directly beneath the proposed route. Kronish explained that cable cars would pass as close as four metres above rooftops and residential windows. Land expropriations for support pillars have already begun, leaving residents facing constant uncertainty.
