David Cameron is set to make his first visit to Israel on Wednesday since becoming UK prime minister.
He will hold talks with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and is expected to back US efforts to restart talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Also on Mr Cameron's agenda is UK-Israel trade and the conflict in Syria. He will also address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
On Thursday, he will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The US revived peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and is now presenting both sides with a framework deal. On his first visit here as PM, David Cameron will express support for those efforts, but what more can he add?
In Israel, he plans to highlight Britain as a business partner as well as a political player. "There's enormous potential, the UK market is increasingly innovative and Israel has been a centre of innovation for many years," says Daniel Sevitt, a British-Israeli who works at Idomoo, a high-tech firm in Tel Aviv.
Recently though political relations with Israel have soured. The UK has warned Israel it has lost support because of settlement building on occupied land that the Palestinians want for their future state.
In the West Bank, the Palestinians will call on Mr Cameron to ban settlement products and for the UK to play a more active role in peace talks.
"David Cameron really has to work hard and push a little bit to support us to get our own country with borders," says British-Palestinian Mohammed Zomlot who runs the Grand Park hotel chain.
"For me as a normal man and a businessman I need peace. Peace will solve everything."
Mr Cameron is expected to stick to Britain's usual lines - acknowledging Israel's security concerns but criticising settlement building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The settlements are considered to be illegal under international law but Israel disputes this.
'Strong leadership'Ahead of his two-day visit, Mr Cameron said peace efforts were reaching "a critical phase".
He added: "I want to encourage Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to build on the strong leadership they have shown so far and to take the final difficult steps towards peace.
"The prize could be great: a stable, prosperous Middle East with a sovereign and viable Palestinian State living in peace alongside a secure Israel at the heart of it.
"A secure future. A prosperous future. That's what we should all set our sights on."
The Conservative PM was forced to postpone a planned two-day trip to the region last month to remain in the UK to lead the emergency response to the floods.
He last visited Israel as opposition leader in 2009.
He is leading a 17-strong UK business delegation, seeking to encourage links between technology and innovation sectors in the UK and Israel.
'Competitive edge'"Our tech partnership is the strongest of any in the world and we should capitalise on this - creating more jobs back in Britain and delivering economic security for hard-working families," added Mr Cameron.
"I've got a planeload of innovative British companies coming with me and we'll be linking them up with Israeli businesses so they can forge new partnerships that will give them a competitive edge in the global race."
He said he also wanted to see the Palestinian economy develop and that he would be detailing new UK support to help Palestinian businesses become more competitive.
The visit comes at a sensitive time in efforts to secure a lasting agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians.
The US has said it hopes to get the backing of both sides for a framework document addressing the most contentious issues around the "two-state solution" sought by the international community.
Unresolved issues include:
- The borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state
- The status of Jerusalem
- Israel's insistence that it be recognised as a Jewish state
- The Palestinians' demand that their refugees be allowed to return to their former homes in what is now Israel
- Security arrangements in the West Bank.
There has been little sign of progress since July, when direct talks resumed after a three-year hiatus.
The Palestinians suspended the last round of talks in 2010 after a 10-month partial moratorium on settlement construction expired.
The European Union is Israel's largest trading partner as well as the biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority.
Mr Cameron has hosted both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas in Downing Street since 2010.
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