The Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law presents: Guy Priver, SJD candidate at HLS “The Politics of Expertise in Designing the Cable Car to Jerusalem’s Old City”

An ambitious plan to build a cable car to the Old City in Jerusalem is now underway. Departing from the western commercial area of the city, it is designed to commute thousands of visitors every hour to Jewish Heritage Sites including the Western Wall. The ideological, political and distributional struggles surrounding the project are numerous. However, they become somehow veiled by the policy debates and the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss several petitions against the project, translating the controversy into a question of planning expertise. Analyzing this case study and others, my research explores the ways in which law shapes heritage preservation in the conflicted Old City, and asks what is the role of international law in advancing a more inclusive and equitable approach in this field.