Former foreign minister Bob Carr has accused his erstwhile cabinet colleague Mark Dreyfus of an extraordinary attempt to "silence" him over his criticism of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.

Mr Carr says early in the 2016 federal election campaign, Mr Dreyfus, a former attorney-general and member for the Victorian seat of Isaacs, along with the member for Melbourne Ports, Michael Danby, sought a meeting with wealthy businessman Huang Xiangmo.

Mr Carr had left politics and was director of the Australia-China Relationships Institute, at the time funded by Mr Huang.

According to Mr Carr, the purpose of the visit "was to protest that I had the audacity to occasionally criticise Israel for spreading settlements on the West Bank", he told journalist and former Middle East correspondent John Lyons for his memoir Balcony Over Jerusalem.