Arafat has backed the meeting

They pledged to use their religious and moral authority to work for peace and to live together as neighbours, respecting each other's faiths.

The religious leaders also called on all parties to refrain from incitement and demonisation - and to take steps to return to negotiations.

They said they would form a permanent committee of religious leaders from Israel and the Palestinian territories, to pursue the implementation of their declaration.

But it is a measure of the sensitive situation in the Middle East that the Alexandria meeting had to be held amidst tight security and with no advance publicity.

Nonetheless, it had the backing of both the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

'No illusions'

Described as moderates, the rabbis who have come to Alexandria represent a broad cross section of Israel's religious Jews.

The Muslim delegation is considered to be close to Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

No one at the Alexandria meeting had any illusions that a religious declaration would end the Middle East conflict, but the hope is that the message of tolerance will resonate in a region where political and religious hostilities are so deeply intertwined.