CANBERRA (Reuters) - The Israeli embassy in Australia's capital Canberra was evacuated on Wednesday after the discovery of a suspicious package containing white powder, a spokesman told Reuters.

"The embassy was evacuated this morning after we discovered white powder in an envelope sent through the mail," Dor Shapira said. "The police are investigating what it is and we expect to find out soon."

A police spokesman said the heavily protected embassy, in the leafy diplomatic quarter, had been evacuated as a precaution.

Several foreign embassies, including the U.S., Japanese and South Korean missions, have been targeted in powder scares in recent years, as well as Australia's Parliament House. All turned out to be harmless.

In 2005, a full-scale emergency was triggered after powder was sent to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra during a controversy over the drug trial and jailing of an Australian woman in Bali.

An envelope containing white powder was also sent to former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer at Parliament House.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; editing by David Fogarty)