Israel’s prime minister has said his regime could “act” directly against Iran, showing off what he called a piece of an Iranian drone which the Israeli military claims to have downed more than a week ago.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu brandished a rectangular chunk of dark green metal, which he called "a piece of that Iranian drone, or what's left of it, after we shot it down."

Earlier this month, Tel Aviv claimed that it had responded to the infiltration of an Iranian drone into the Israeli airspace.

It then released a grainy footage allegedly showing the downing of an Iranian drone by an Israeli attack helicopter and subsequent airstrikes on Syria, during which the regime had at least one F-16 warplane shot down.

Tehran has dismissed the allegations as "ridiculous," while Damascus has said the Syrian army had launched the drone to track down Daesh terrorists when an Israeli helicopter violated its airspace and shot it down.

Sticking to the Israeli account, Netanyahu said, "We will act if necessary not just against Iran's proxies but against Iran itself."

The Israeli regime has repeatedly carried out airstrikes against targets inside Syria which Damascus says are aimed at assisting terrorists fighting the Syrian government.

“Do not test Israel's resolve," Netanyahu said Sunday.

After the airstrikes, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly warned Netanyahu to avoid moves that could lead to “a new round of dangerous consequences for the region”.

Aida Touma-Sliman, an Israeli lawmaker, has said Netanyahu was seeking to instigate a regional war to deflect attention from an ongoing investigation into his suspicious corrupt practices.

“Netanyahu is willing to instigate a regional war in which the peoples of the region will pay a heavy price just for his political survival,” she warned after the airstrikes.

The Israeli police have said there was ample evidence for Netanyahu to be indicted for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in two separate cases.

A sign held up by an Israeli protester during a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of police recommendations to indict him for corruption, in Tel Aviv, February 16, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Netanyahu's brandishing of the alleged drone part on Sunday brought to minds his display of a cartoonish diagram of a bomb during his September 2012 address to the United Nations General Assembly to claim that Iran was on the verge of building an atomic warhead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is showing a cartoonish diagram of a bomb during his address to the UN General Assembly, September 27, 2012

The display sparked a controversy and drew ridicule from many people, including those in the media outlets sympathetic to Israel.

Three years later, Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany reached a nuclear agreement which Netanyahu fiercely opposed and made every effort to scuttle negotiations but to no avail.