Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive in Singapore today for a two-day official visit.

After an official welcome ceremony at the Istana, he will call on President Tony Tan Keng Yam and meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday.

PM Lee will host an official dinner for his counterpart at the Istana today.

Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will also host a lunch for Mr Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader is accompanied on his trip by his wife, Mrs Sara Netanyahu, and a delegation of senior government officials.

Mr Netanyahu's visit reciprocates PM Lee's visit to Israel last April. His visit is the first by a top Israeli leader since former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was here in 1993 after visiting Jakarta, in the wake of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord that year.

Last year, PM Lee also visited Jordan and the Palestinian Territories on his trip to the Middle East, and he had invited the leaders he met on all three stops to visit Singapore.

PM Lee had reiterated Singapore's longstanding position that it was friends with both Israel and Palestine, and said he hoped to see both sides make progress towards a just and durable two- state solution.