At the same time, the Israeli chief rabbinate will renew its ties with the Vatican, which were cut in response to the Holy See's decision in January to revoke the excommunication of Richard Williamson, a British-born bishop who denied the extent of the Holocaust.

Last month, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that Pope Benedict will visit Israel in May, confirming the spring pilgrimage and avoiding any mention of tense Catholic-Jewish relations over Williamson.

"This May, we will receive a special visitor, Pope Benedict XVI," Olmert told his cabinet, without giving an exact date. "President Shimon Peres will accompany him to various sites in Israel."

Olmert said he will ask the government to appoint Vice Premier Haim Ramon to be responsible for organizing the visit, and PMO Director-General Ra'anan Dinur to chair an inter-ministerial team to coordinate preparations for the visit.

"Naturally, we very much hope that the visit will be held in an appropriate atmosphere and will be as successful as Pope John Paul II's was," said Olmert. "A Papal visit to the Holy Land is always an exceptionally significant event and we hope that it will be this time as well."

President Shimon Peres said he was "delighted" that the Pope had accepted his invitation to visit the Holy Land.

"The Pope will be a most honored guest, welcomed and respected by people from all walks of life. His visit will be a moving and important event bringing the spirit of peace and hope," Peres said.

Catholic-Jewish relations have been extremely tense since Jan. 24, when Benedict lifted excommunications of four renegade traditionalist bishops in an attempt to heal a schism that began in 1988 when they were ordained without Vatican permission.

Williamson denied the full extent of the Holocaust and says there were no gas chambers.

The Vatican has ordered him to recant but he so far has not done so, saying he needs more time to review the evidence.

Faced with Jewish anger over Williamson's remarks on the Holocaust, the pope said during a meeting with American Jewish leaders last month that "any denial or minimization of this terrible crime is intolerable."

It would be the third visit of a reigning pontiff to Israel since the state was created in 1948.

Pope Paul VI made a one-day stopover from Jordan in 1964, but since the Vatican and Israel did not yet have diplomatic relations, he avoided any statement or act that could be interpreted as even indirect recognition of the Jewish state.

In March 2000, Pope John Paul II made a five-day pilgrimage to Israel and the Palestinian territories, during which he visited Christian and Jewish holy sites.