SYDNEY - Two Australians, including a former Greens Member of Parliament (MP) have been detained by Israeli authorities after arriving Tel Aviv in Israel on Tuesday, local media reported on Wednesday.

Greens MP David Shoebridge told Australian Associated Press ( AAP) the pair detained by the Israeli authorities and threatened with deportation have been allowed to have their case heard in court.

Former New South Wales Greens upper house member Sylvia Hale and activist Vivienne Porzsolt flew to Tel Aviv on Tuesday to participate in the "Welcome to Palestine" initiative, Shoebridge said.

They were detained by Israeli authorities about midnight (local time) after they tried to enter Bethlehem, a Palestinian city in the West Bank.

"Her local lawyer has obtained a stay on the deportation order and the matter will come before the district court in Tel Aviv at midday, Israeli time," Shoebridge told AAP.

Both Porzsolt, who represents a group called Jews Against the Occupation, and Hale were being represented by the same lawyer, Iftach Cohen and neither had been harmed, he said.

Shoebridge said Hale's daughter had contacted him saying the pair were being held in a detention center and had expected to be deported to Athens before the stay order was issued.