Netanyahu defends war as protesters rally outside US Congress

But growing political divisions over the war in Gaza were underscored by the dozens of Democratic members of Congress deliberately not present and thousands of protesters on the streets outside.

Crowds gathered by a stage on Capitol Hill decked with banners, including one declaring the Israeli leader a “wanted war criminal,” a reference to an arrest warrant sought by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Five people were arrested inside the Capitol building for attempting to disrupt Mr Netanyahu’s address, according to police.

Addressing the protestors, Mr Netanyahu said: “You have officially become Iran’s useful idiots.”

In one of many references to Iran, the Israeli prime minister claimed an “axis of terror” threatened the US, Israel and the Arab world, framing it as a “clash of barbarism against civilisations”.

The term riffed off what Iran describes as the “axis of resistance,” an alliance across the Middle East including the Palestinian group Hamas, the Lebanese organisation Hezbollah and the Houthis, who rule parts of Yemen.

He told Congress that Iranian proxy forces had attacked American targets, adding that Iran believes that “to truly challenge America it must first conquer the Middle East”.

“But in the heart of the Middle East, standing in Iran’s way, is one proud pro-American democracy: my country, the state of Israel.”