British Prime Minister Gordon Brown received a red carpet welcome in Israel on Sunday, with President Shimon Peres calling him 'one of the most respected leaders of our time in my judgement.'

Brown's visit to Israel is his first since he took office a year ago. He is scheduled to hold talks with both Israeli and Palestinian officials, with a view to advancing the peace process.

Peres received Brown and his wife at the presidential residence in Jerusalem after they toured Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust at the start of a two-day official visit.

The Israeli president praised Brown for his record and philosophy and highlighted that the former British finance minister had 'raised the British economy to unprecedented heights.'

Brown, in turn, said he felt it was a privilege to meet Peres, saying: 'I know of the immense contribution you have made to the history of this country in the many roles you have played.'

'Nothing prepares you for what we see here,' the British leader had said at the memorial site, where he laid a wreath earlier. 'This is the story of the atrocities that should have been prevented, the killings that should never have happened, the truth that everybody who loves humanity should know.'

Brown is expected to press the Palestinian leadership to improve security in the understanding that Britain would then apply pressure on Israel to lift restrictions on the occupied territories.

He would meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday. Brown has met most officials representing parties to the Middle East conflicts on previous occasions in London.

He is also to meet members of the business community in Israel. Brown followed his surprise stop Saturday in Iraq by flying on to Tel Aviv in the evening.

The visit to Israel is Brown's first since becoming prime minister a year ago.

His talks with Israeli officials are to include the Iranian nuclear programme and Israel's ongoing peace efforts with the Palestinians and Syria, according to Israeli media reports. In Iraq on Saturday, Brown had met with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Brown is to address the Knesset - as the first British prime minister to do so - before his departure on Monday afternoon.