New Delhi, July 24: The Congress today demanded an explanation from the government over a claim by Israel's Prime Minister that Narendra Modi earlier this month told him he had skipped Palestinian territories during a regional visit because they could not offer technology India needs.

Benjamin Netanyahu had referred to his conversation with Modi while speaking to the Prime Ministers of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia in Budapest last week, where he called the European Union's attitude towards Israel "crazy".

Netanyahu suggested that Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were willing to engage in transactional diplomacy much more than the EU and had embraced ties with Israel without holding them hostage to Palestinian sentiments.

To buttress his argument, Netanyahu cited a conversation with Modi during his visit to Israel earlier this month - the first by an Indian Prime Minister - when he skipped a trip to Palestinian Authority territories like the city of Ramallah.

Almost every world leader that visits Jerusalem for talks with Israel's Prime Minister also travels to Ramallah, a gesture meant to acknowledge the disputed nature of the city of Jerusalem and the unresolved Arab-Israel conflict that has displaced millions of Palestinians.

"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he needs water for his people. Where will I get water? Ramallah? No," Netanyahu told the East European leaders, seemingly repeating from his recollection of Modi's comments to him.

Netanyahu's comments were caught on a microphone that wasn't switched off - a so-called hot mic moment - and were reported first by Israeli newspaper Haaretz on July 19. The EU has remained one of Netanyahu's most reluctant partners and has pressed Israel for fresh negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

Today, Congress leaders Anand Sharma, A.K. Antony and Digvijaya Singh asked the government in the Rajya Sabha to confirm if Netanyahu's account of the conversation with Modi was accurate. Modi had visited Israel from July 4-7. "We have, throughout our history, spoken in solidarity with the people of Palestine, their struggle and also their right to an independent state within secure borders," Sharma said.

Antony said Modi's purported comments to Netanyahu had "far-reaching implications," while Digvijaya said the Prime Minister's words may have "international repercussions". The Indian government has not responded to Netanyahu's suggestion that Modi indicated the absence of technology with the Palestinian Authority as a reason to skip Ramallah.

But water purification and desalination technologies, and agriculture techniques that efficiently use water, were key components of Modi's visit to Israel, during which the two countries even inked a strategic partnership on water. Israel has successfully turned itself from a traditionally arid territory into a water-exporting nation.

Modi had spent his final morning in Israel on Olga Beach with Netanyahu, strolling in the sand and tasting desalinated water from a mobile purifier demonstrated by an Israeli firm.