Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ignored objections to lead parliamentary celebrations on Wednesday marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel.

At least one Labor MP and a number of unions were opposed to a parliamentary motion, put forward by Mr Rudd and seconded by Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, commemorating the establishment of modern Israel.

Several protesters holding placards rallied outside Parliament House criticising Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory.

Security guards escorted a middle-aged woman from the House of Representatives public gallery who tried to interrupt Mr Rudd as he rose to speak to the motion.

"What about the UN resolution?" the woman called out as she held up a banner before being escorted from the gallery.

Two powerful unions - the Maritime Union of Australia and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union - joined a large group of individuals and organisations sponsoring an advertisement in a national newspaper urging parliament to abandon the motion.

"Australia and Australians should not give the Israeli people and its leaders the impression that Australia supports them in their dispossession of the Palestinian people," the Not In Our Name advertisement said.

Labor MP Julia Irwin, a frequent critic of the role Israel has played in exacerbating tensions in the Middle East, boycotted the motion.

"I find it hard to congratulate a country which carries out human rights abuses each day and shows blatant disregard for the United Nations," she told ABC.

"I'm disappointed that there was no mention of the human rights abuses that Israel do against the Palestinians on a daily basis."

Unlike the bipartisan apology to the Stolen Generations, many MPs were not in the chamber as the Israeli motion was taking place.

While there were more MPs than usual in the House of Representatives, many seats remained unfilled as Mr Rudd and Dr Nelson spoke.

A vote on the issue wasn't called because the motion was carried on voices rather than a count of MPs.

At a function later in the day hosted by the Israeli embassy in parliament, Mr Rudd thanked Dr Nelson for his bipartisan support.

"It's good as a nation that we speak as one on something like this," Mr Rudd told the gathering.

Earlier, Mr Rudd reaffirmed Labor's commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

"We firmly believe the establishment of an independent and economically-viable Palestinian state must remain a key objective of the Israeli peace process," he said.

"This is important for the future ... just as our objective must be for Israel to exist within secure and internationally-recognised boundaries."

Dr Nelson urged Australians to remember the freedoms for which Israelis had long fought.

"To any Australian who has not done so already and who has the privilege and the opportunity to visit Washington, I urge you to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum," he said.

"There is a very large sign out the front of the museum that says `Never forget what you have seen here'.

"There are piles of shoes that were worn by Jews exterminated, photographs of men and women and children looking out into lives that were never lived, and many other things to remind us of why our relationship with Israel and our respect for the Israeli cause and the two-state solution is so important to our own beliefs, our own values and ultimately our own freedoms and security."

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