A no-tender notice and a declined consultancy

A fifth foreign company has withdrawn from the Jerusalem cable car project, though local authorities say the plan continues. The project had appeared stalled for four years until late September, when the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) issued a notice of intent to award a contract without a public tender - weeks before Israel's 27 October elections.

The intended contractor was ROPES, a cable car engineering consultancy based in South Tyrol, Italy. Chief executive Stephan Obexer said his company declined the consultancy work because of another commitment in India.

ROPES did not respond to questions about whether legal concerns over the project's location in occupied East Jerusalem influenced its decision; the JDA did not respond to a request for comment.

A route backed by government and courts

The 1.4km route was approved by the Israeli government in 2019 and upheld by the high court in 2022. It would connect West Jerusalem to a planned 16,000 sq metres tourist complex promoted by Elad, a settler organisation seeking to consolidate Israeli control over Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem.

• At least four foreign companies - three French and one Swiss - expressed interest, and several withdrew over political sensitivity, according to Haaretz.
• In 2015 the French government urged one company not to participate.
• French company CNA pulled out less than a year ago, followed by Switzerland's Histec Engineering.

According to the archaeology group Emek Shaveh, the JDA recently accelerated the long-delayed project through occupied East Jerusalem, where the international court of justice has ruled Israel's presence unlawful. Alon Arad, Emek Shaveh's executive director, said the route ends at a compound run by the Elad Foundation, which stands to benefit from a project costing the state around half a billion shekels. The Elad Foundation does not appear formally involved in the project and did not respond to a request for comment.

What the route means for Silwan homes

The project has drawn protests from Israeli heritage and environmental groups and Palestinians in Silwan, who say cable cars would pass just metres above their homes. Rights groups say it directly threatens about 54 Palestinian homes in Silwan's Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood through expropriation of land or air rights. Israeli authorities have issued 17 expropriation notices covering about 8.7 dunams (2.15 acres) of land along the proposed route for pylons.

Sari Kronish, architect and director of the East Jerusalem department at Bimkom, said buildings housing roughly 450 residents lie directly beneath the route:

Critics and the authorities' response

Emek Shaveh said in a statement that the project threatens the Palestinian communities and the timeless landscape of Jerusalem's historic core, and aims to consolidate settlers' hold and displace Palestinians from the Historic Basin. Arad said the cable car contradicts the principle against large infrastructure around the Old City, and criticised the cooperation of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority said its involvement was limited to providing feedback on the proposed alternatives.

A JDA spokesperson told Haaretz that the project continues according to plan, subject to the mandatory tenders law, and that the tender is expected to be ready for publication in the coming months.

Israel occupied the Palestinian territories from 1967 and annexed the Old City and eastern Jerusalem in 1980; they remain considered occupied under international law.