WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on July 24 turned an address to Congress into a forceful defense of Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip. He cast it as a battle for survival of the Jewish state while making almost no mention of the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians killed in its drive to destroy Hamas.

The address laid bare deep divisions in Washington over the war, whose toll on civilians has outraged many Democrats and drawn international condemnation. Dozens of Democrats did not show up, with some openly boycotting the speech.

Vice-President Kamala Harris, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, declined to preside in her capacity as president of the Senate, a break with tradition.

Outside the Capitol, pepper spray filled the air as police officers tried to push back thousands of protesters who had gathered to jeer Mr Netanyahu. Demonstrators held signs calling him a war criminal, burned an effigy of him and an American flag, and vandalised statues with anti-Israel slogans.

In a speech in which he condemned critics of the war as dupes aligning themselves with the world’s most dangerous actors or apologists for terrorists, Mr Netanyahu portrayed the conflict as a proxy fight with Iran that must be won at all costs to protect both Israel and the United States.

“When we fight Iran, we are fighting the most radical and murderous enemy of the United States,” he said.

“We’re not only protecting ourselves; we’re protecting you,” he added.

The substantial number of Democratic no-shows included two top senators and representative Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker, w...