There were fears in Israel that the coincidence of Yom Kippur and the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha both falling last Saturday could spark clashes between fasting Jews and feasting Arabs.

In the event, the day passed off peacefully. In the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Acre, where last year an Arab motorist sparked riots when he drove through the city on Yom Kippur with his stereo blaring loud music, the municipality took an innovative approach to keeping the peace: Arabs were offered special Yom Kippur cars to allow them to get to Eid celebrations without disturbing praying Jews.

While it is legal to drive in Israel on Yom Kippur, there is a convention of desisting from driving.

Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha have not coincided for three decades, and faith leaders and politicians met ahead of the holidays to call for calm. They included Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Shariah Court President Dawoud Zini, and Islamic court judge Muhammed Zevada.

The Abraham Fund, the coexistence charity that brought them together, described the meeting as the "crowning achievement" of a week-long public campaign to "sensitise the Israeli public to the potential tension that could arise from the coinciding holidays".

"There was a particularly strong police presence in Jerusalem and Acre, but the day passed without major incidents," said Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.