Israel on Monday began vacating the premises of a Russian landmark in Jerusalem, an official said, in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit this week to Moscow.

The two countries had decided several years ago that the historic 19th century stone-hewn building near the Old City, would be handed over to Russia, but there were delays in implementation.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that "Israel is vacating Sergei's Courtyard in accordance with the understandings reached between the two governments", referring to the building named after a Tsarist nobleman.

The official would not comment on the timing of the move. Local media said Russia had demanded the handover of the building, which once housed the Israeli Agriculture Ministry, as a condition for Netanyahu's last-minute visit.

The so-called Russian compound was built in the last half of the 19th century at a time when European powers were expanding their presence in the holy land, then under the Ottoman Empire.

Netanyahu flies on Wednesday for talks with Russian leaders likely to focus on the latest turmoil in the Arab world.

Israeli media said Netanyahu would urge Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev to avoid selling advanced weaponry to Syria, and to support continued sanctions on Iran aimed at reining in its nuclear programme.

Israeli ties with Russia have grown closer in the past few years and since an influx of more than a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union who have moved to the Jewish state since the early 1990s.

Russia is also seen as an important strategic ally because of its traditionally close relationship with neighbouring Arab countries, such as Syria, with which Israel has fought several wars since its establishment in 1948.