The calm was wrecked, however, by Palestinian suicide attacks in Israel on Tuesday that killed 16 people.
The animals will be moved Sunday from the Ramat Gan Safari along 12 miles of checkpoints and former flashpoints of violence to the Qalqiliya Zoo, which was closed until six months ago. Qalqiliya is next to the line between Israel and the West Bank.
The animals will travel a path many Israelis and Palestinians cannot. The army prohibits Israelis from entering Palestinian areas, where they could be attacked, and most Palestinians are not allowed to enter Israel for fear they could be attackers.
The success of the transfer is not guaranteed, since Israel could seal Palestinian towns in response to the bombing in southern Israel.
''We hope that they will let the Israeli truck with the animals enter Qalqiliya," said Sami Khader, a veterinarian at the Palestinian zoo. ''The checkpoint is open, but if there is another bombing, they might close it."
The zoo, which has about 170 animals, had been closed during much of the bloodshed because of Israeli closures, military raids, and frequent clashes.
Khader said he often risked his life traveling to the zoo to feed the animals and make sure they were alive. Despite the violence, the Israeli and Palestinian veterinarians have maintained contact throughout the conflict.
Once Khader found three zebras who had died from tear gas inhalation during a violent demonstration. Another time he found a giraffe that had hit its head on an iron bar, apparently spooked by gunfire the night before.
In the past six months, with a reduction in Palestinian attacks, Israel has eased travel restrictions, permitting Palestinians from outside the town to visit the zoo.
Khader hopes the three lions, two zebras, and three desert goats -- called ibexes -- will not suffer the same trouble an ostrich delivered from Israel had to endure five months ago.
When the Israelis reached the Qalqiliya checkpoint with the bird, the army would not let them through, he said.
The Palestinian zookeepers had to back their truck up close to the checkpoint to receive the ostrich in a procedure usually reserved for cargo transfers across roadblocks.
Sagit Horowitz, spokeswoman of the safari park, said the Israelis hoped the animal transfer would help the Palestinian people.
''We really want peace and coexistence, but politics don't have a place in this," Horowitz said. ''It's really important to us that Palestinians know these species and love animals, too."
