Bishops in the Anglican churches in the Middle East in particular have welcomed the coming together of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yonah Metzger.
Members of both faiths are hopeful the new dialogue will lead to closer relations between the archbishop and other religious leaders as well as consolidate interfaith relations in the Middle East and beyond, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The declaration will be signed before the leaders of both communities as well as leading Christian-Jewish dialogue organisations.
Dr Rowan Williams welcomed the new dialogue.
"I am delighted that we are now able to establish this important dialogue which enables religious leaders to discuss matters of concern. The more we are able to develop ways of listening to one's concerns and interest, the better our understanding will be of one another's hopes and fears," he said.
The dialogue will go some way to smooth out any remaining tensions following the Church of England’s vote to divest in companies whose products are used by the Israeli government.
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has also welcomed the meeting, expressing his hope for a “genuine conversation” to be established between the leaders.The more we are able to develop ways of listening to one's concerns and interest, the better our understanding will be of one another's hopes and fears.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams
"The most important thing to achieve is genuine conversation in which the voice of Israel can be heard and heard in a way appropriate to a religious leader, mainly through other religious leaders - the chief rabbis of Israel.
