President Isaac Herzog marked 75 years of Israeli independence on Wednesday in an address to the United States Congress celebrating the country's friendship with Washington. In his speech, he warned against criticism of the government seeping into anti-Semitism.

Herzog's remarks came amid a row in the House of Representatives over the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration that has highlighted fissures in Democratic Party support for the Middle Eastern ally.

"I am not oblivious to criticism among friends, including some expressed by respected members of this House. I respect criticism, especially from friends, although one does not always have to accept it," he told a joint meeting of the U.S House and Senate, earning raucous applause.

"But criticism of Israel must not cross the line into the negation of the state of Israel's right to exist. Questioning the Jewish people's right to self-determination is not legitimate diplomacy, it is anti-Semitism."

Herzog holds a largely ceremonial role and is far less controversial than Netanyahu, but U.S President Joe Biden's party has nevertheless been convulsed by infighting over the visit.

Access24 reports that a handful of congressional Democrats are longstanding critics of the conservative-leaning Israeli government, accusing it of disenfranchising Palestinians, and boycotted the speech.

Nine Democrats voted against a resolution backing Israel brought Tuesday by top Republican Kevin McCarthy, the only US House speaker in 25 years to address the country's parliament, the Knesset.

The resolution was intended as a rebuke of Democrat Pramila Jayapal, an Indian-born American, who sparked an angry backlash from her own party over the weekend by calling Israel a "racist state."

She retracted her statement under intense pressure from Democratic colleagues and apologized, saying she did not believe "the idea of Israel as a nation is racist."

Herzog, who spoke of living in New York in the 1970s, lauded his country's relationship with "our greatest partner and friend," voicing gratitude for U.S. "commitment to Israel's security."

"Israel's first 75 years were rooted in an ancient dream. Let us base our next 75 years on hope, our shared hope, is to heal our fractured world, as the closest of allies and friends." he said.