British physicist Stephen Hawking arrived in Israel on Thursday night for a nine-visit tour of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to promote science.

Hawking, whose visit was originally scheduled last year during the World Year of Physics, will meet with scientists and give several lectures. The British embassy organized the visit to promote scientific cooperation between the nations.

This will be Hawking's fourth visit. On a previous 1988 visit, Hawking was awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics.

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Hawking was greeted at Ben-Gurion International Airport on arrival by the British Ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips.

Although most of Hawking's agenda will be closed to the general public, on Sunday the British Council will hold a meeting at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem with aspiring scientists, at which Hawking will reply to questions sent in advance. Next Thursday, Hawking will lecture at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on "The Origins of the Universe." The lecture will be open to the public.

On Sunday, Hawking is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, and then travel to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.

Hawking is also scheduled to lecture at Ramallah's Bir Zeit University and to hold a video conference with young Palestinian scientists from the West Bank.

Hawking's research focuses on the subject of black holes and the Theory of Relativity. Hoking won international renown with his best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time."