At a glance, Jerusalem’s Old City and its surroundings still look pretty much as they must have looked centuries ago. The Old City’s yellow walls still read in silhouette against an ancient landscape of parched hills and valleys. The skyline is still dominated by the city’s great Muslim and Christian shrines: the gold, glistening Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus was said to have been buried.

But this is about to change. Israeli authorities have approved a plan to build a cable car to the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world, by 2021.

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The view from the Jewish cemetery at the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem’s Old City. Israeli authorities have approved a plan to build a cable car network to the Old City
The view from the Jewish cemetery at the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem’s Old City. Israeli authorities have approved a plan to build a cable car network to the Old City © Mauricio Lima for The New York Times