From a solemn ceremony to a dusty desert re-enactment, it was a day of commemoration in southern Israel to mark 100 years since the Battle of Beersheba.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, New Zealand Governor-General Patsy Reddy, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watched on as descendants of the original ANZACS paraded on horseback and performed a scaled down re-enactment of the legendary charge.

About 100 Australian horsemen took part in "a ride of peace" on Tuesday commemorating the charge.

"The leaders of our three nations are here assembled because we are honouring an extraordinary battle, an extraordinary campaign, which made history, which fulfilled history," Mr Turnbull said.

The battle was a crucial, if largely forgotten, victory in the Middle East campaign that enabled the Allies to break the Turkish line in what is now southern Israel and capture Jerusalem weeks later.

The victorious campaign redrew the map of the Middle East.

Sorry, this video has expired The Battle of Beersheba "really put Australians on the map".

Ian Dunlop, an Australian military veteran whose grandfather fought at Beersheba, wore his ancestor's four military medals on his chest and said he was "very proud" to have come from his native Melbourne.

"We learned about the ethos of courage of Australian and New Zealand's soldiers," Mr Netanyahu said.

"It was an example of the spirit of fortitude and courage and the willingness to act in the defence of our people and our values."

In the fall of 1917, Allied forces with British General Sir Edmund Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force advanced on Gaza as part of a campaign to knock the Ottoman Empire, Germany's ally, out of the war.

To outflank the Turkish troops entrenched around Gaza, a parched detachment made a desperate manoeuvre through the Negev Desert to capture the strategic biblical town of Beersheba, known both in antiquity and in modern times for its wells.

On October 31, 1917, Allied troops launched their assault, but by late in the day, the critical water sources remained in Turkish hands.

In a desperate gambit, mounted infantrymen with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps drew their bayonets, charged the Turkish trenches cavalry-style, and stormed into the city.

Had they been turned back, the entire campaign might have been lost.

For Australia, the Battle of Beersheba is iconic of "the spirit of the Australian people … daring, bold and courageous," said Kelvin Crombie, a historian and one of the organisers of the 100th anniversary commemorations.

Having suffered crushing defeats at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, it is remembered as a young Australia's first real victory.

Chief of the army Angus Campbell closed a day of commemorations in a service at the Park of the Australian soldier, telling the ceremony that no other soldiers have captured Australians imaginations like the Light Horsemen.

People wave Australian and Israelis flags as members of the Australian Light Horse Association ride pass through. ( Reuters: Ronen Zvulun )

ABC/wires