Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House hint they may boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech on March 3 after advising him to cancel it.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued the most vocal statement on Friday, who warned Netanyahu of the possibility that many Democratic representatives would steer clear of Congress on the day the Israeli leader would deliver his speech.

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Pelosi advised Netanyahu that if he is bent on discussing his concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions, there are other ways of doing so without appearing before a joint gathering of the two houses of the U.S. Congress.

She said there are great opportunities, noting the Israeli prime minister is often a guest of U.S. Sunday talk programs.

The former House speaker also pointed out that Netanyahu's planned speech is a bone of contention in Israel. Pelosi said she does not know that even everyone in Israel supports the invitation.

The White House called the invitation to speak before Congress last week, which Netanyahu accepted, a breach of protocol.

It placed Israel in the middle of a political crossfire between Democrats and Republicans, with President Barack Obama pushing for diplomatic negotiations over a nuclear deal with Iran.

Senior Democratic Party officials said Netanyahu's behavior in the diplomatic row was "inappropriate."

Last week, Netanyahu played down the impact of the criticism thrown against him, labeling the diplomatic difficulty around his Congress address as only "procedural." 

He said the procedural problems surrounding his speech in Congress can be solved, but if Iran ended up with nuclear arms then it is a much worse problem to fix. Netanyahu made the statement while visiting injured Israeli soldiers at Haifa's Rambam Hospital. 

TagsBenjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama, Israel, nancy pelosi