Israel's planned Jerusalem cable car sparks Palestinian anger

There's a plan for a new cable car that'll zip visitors from downtown Jerusalem right in to the heart of the old city.

But it's not without controversy, because Palestinians are saying it would erase their heritage in areas they seek for a future state.

The proposed service would shuttle some 3,000 tourists and worshippers per hour from Jerusalem's western part to the eastern Old City in a four-minute ride.

The plan took a step forward this week when it got the green light from a special committee headed by Israel's finance minister.

The Israeli government say it'll help ease heavy traffic in the area.

One issue is that Palestinians say its planned route would place cable cars just metres above their homes in East Jerusalem.

And stir frictions over the future of a city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANISATION (PLO) OFFICIAL HANAN ASHRWAI SAYING:

"It's a violation of the fact that Jerusalem and East Jerusalem in particular is occupied Palestinian territory, and is not Israeli, so it's a violation of the sanctity, the character, the history, the demography, the geography of Jerusalem itself, which is being treated in a crass way like a source of funding and economic profit only and we refuse this crass violation of the nature of Jerusalem."

The cable car project, intended to be ready for 2021, must still win final government approval.