PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice has dramatically upped the ante in the administration’s row with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by calling his decision to address Congress next week “destructive” to US-Israeli relations.

Ms Rice said on Tuesday that Mr Netanyahu’s decision to accept House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation had injected partisanship into bilateral relations.

She called that “destructive of the fabric” of a relationship that had always been bipartisan and needed to stay that way.

Republican leaders didn’t consult the Obama administration beforehand, which the White House views as a breach of protocol.

Mr Netanyahu turned down an invitation to meet Senate Democrats privately, claiming that this “could compound the misperception of partisanship” surrounding his trip.

Democratic senators Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein had invited Mr Netanyahu on Monday to meet Democrats in a closed-door session.

He declined the invitation on Tuesday, claiming to “regret that the invitation to address the special joint session of Congress has been perceived by some to be political or partisan.

“I can assure you that my sole intention in accepting it was to voice Israel’s grave concerns about a potential nuclear agreement with Iran that could threaten the survival of my country.”

However, his reasoning cut no ice with Mr Durbin, who said: “We offered the prime minister an opportunity to balance the politically divisive invitation from Speaker Boehner with a private meeting with Democrats who are committed to keeping the bipartisan support of Israel strong.

“His refusal to meet is disappointing to those of us who have stood by Israel for decades.”

More than a half dozen House and Senate Democrats have said that they will skip the speech, calling it an affront to President Obama and his administration as they engage in high-level negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.

Steve Cohen became the latest Democratic Congressman on Tuesday to decide to give the Israeli leader’s speech a miss.

The Tennessee congressman called Mr Netanyahu’s speech “high theatre” in his re-election campaign and a political tool wielded by Mr Boehner to create a breach between Democrats and Israel.