Japan is deploying maximum-level security for the Israeli prime minister's visit this week, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday, amid intensifying tension in the Middle East since the assassination of a terror mastermind.

Japan routinely provides heavy protection for the Israeli Embassy and its diplomats, but security for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's arrival Monday will be "at maximum levels," a ministry official in charge of the Middle East region said on condition of anonymity, citing internal policy.

Olmert plans to meet with government and business leaders and attend a business seminar during his four-day visit to promote bilateral trade and investment, the ministry official said.

The security plans were not directly linked to the Feb. 12 assassination in Syria of Hezbollah operative Imad Mughniyeh, who was suspected of involvement in a series of terror attacks since the early 1980s targeting Israelis, Americans, French, Jews and others.

Israel, which denied any involvement in his death, has heightened security domestically and at diplomatic offices abroad and Jewish institutions worldwide, fearing a revenge attack.

Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported Sunday that Japan was mobilizing an additional 10,000 police to help provide security for Olmert and his delegation.

A duty official at the Metropolitan Police Department said he could not confirm the number of police to be deployed for Olmert's visits, citing security reasons.

But the official said that a visit from an Israeli leader triggers the same security requirements as a similar visitor from South Korea, Russia and the United States.

Olmert, who will be accompanied by 25 Israeli business leaders, plans to promote Israeli-Palestinian economic cooperation and seek support from Japan, Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said. Olmert and Japanese leaders are also expected to discuss the nuclear threat of North Korea and Iran, Regev said.