The tour, organised by the lobby group the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, will include in the 40-strong delegation Liberal MPs Peter Costello, Christopher Pyne, George Brandis, Guy Barnett, Labor MP Mark Dreyfus, QC, Jewish scientists, academics, businessmen and women, and journalists.

An equal number of Israelis will attend the Australia-Israel Leadership Forum, to be held at the historic King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel's most prestigious hotel.

Leading Israeli politicians from the governing Likud and Labour parties will attend, as well as the opposition party Kadima, led by the former foreign minister Tzipi Livni. It is hoped that the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will attend. As foreign minister in 2002, Mr Netanyahu helped to launch the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange with the then foreign minister, Alexander Downer.

The chairman of the exchange is Albert Dadon, who was an early supporter of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, first bringing him on a trip to Israel in 2002. In 2005 Mr Dadon accompanied Mr Rudd and his now chief-of-staff, Alastair Jordan, on a trip to Israel.

In many ways, Mr Dadon represents a new generation of Australian-Jewish leaders who is emerging to take over the role filled by Mark Leibler, long recognised as a leading figure among Australian Jews and who had a direct line to the former prime minister John Howard.

A spokesman for the organisers said the tour would include a visit to Ramallah in the West Bank to meet leaders of the Palestinian Authority.

However, the purpose of the forum in Jerusalem on June 25-26 was not to engage with different points of views on the Israel-Palestine question but to promote an exchange of ideas and issues common to both countries, such as water, electoral reform and education.

A spokesman for Australians for Palestine, Moamar Mashni, said he was invited by Mr Dadon to accompany the tour as a non-participating observer.

However, he declined because "I was happy to participate as long as it was meaningful, but not to sit in an audience and hear others speak."