A letter from an Israeli Chief Rabbi arguing that the closeness of Islam to Judaism could help the cause of Middle East peace is to go on sale tomorrow.

It was written by Israel’s first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, Isaac Herzog, in 1954 to Professor Abraham Katsh, who had published a book on “Judaism in Islam”,

Rabbi Herzog, who died in 1959, wrote: “It is my fervent hope that the learned men of the Arab peoples may… be helped to realize how near Islam is to Judaism historically and that this connection may help to promote the cause… of peace between Ishmael and Israel.”

The letter, up for auction at Kestenbaum’s in New York, tomorrow, is expected to fetch between $4,000 to $6,000.