WASHINGTON Vice President Kamala Harris , suddenly also the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, on Thursday quietly became the White Houses public face on the Israel-Hamas war.

While Harris and President Joe Biden both had meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was Harris, not Biden, who gave a detailed debriefing.

Ive said it many times, but it bears repeating: Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters, she said. I also expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.

The six minutes of remarks, which she delivered from her ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building while referring to notes, were not on her daily schedule released Wednesday night and were announced only minutes ahead of time. They were notable for their frequent use of the personal pronoun I rather than we or the administration, as is generally the case when a White House official other than the president is delivering a statement on the White Houses position.

Indeed, Harris opened her remarks with an explanation of her personal commitment to the Jewish state.