Netanyahu irked by "critical" Harris comments

• This was Harris' first meeting with a foreign leader since she started her presidential campaign.

Driving the news: Netanyahu met with Harris after spending almost three hours with President Biden discussing the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

• The two leaders met with the families of eight U.S. hostages held in Gaza. The families said they were more optimistic after the meeting about the chance for the deal to move forward soon.
• After a 40 minute meeting with Netanyahu, Harris' gave an on-camera statement and said she pressed the Israeli Prime Minister to conclude a hostage and ceasefire deal.
• "It is time for this war to end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self determination," she said.
• "And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu it is time to get this deal done. Let's get the deal done. So we can get a ceasefire to end the war. Let's bring the hostages home. And let's provide much needed relief to the Palestinian people."
• In her remarks Harris expressed commitment for Israel's security, but at the same time spoke about the suffering in Gaza, the mass civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis.

Behind the scenes: Two Israeli officials said Netanyahu's meeting with Biden was much more constructive than his meeting with Harris, but stressed the meeting with the vice president wasn't tense or difficult.

• The Israeli officials said Netanyahu and his team were caught off guard by Harris' on-camera statement and taken aback by its tone, which they said sounded much more critical than Biden's.
• "Harris' statement after the meeting was much more critical than what she told Netanyahu in the meeting," one Israeli official claimed.

Between the lines: The Israeli official said Netanyahu was upset about the fact that Harris spoke about the hostage and ceasefire deal as an end to the war, while Israel maintains its position that it will be able to resume the fighting after the deal is implemented.

• The Israeli official also said Netanyahu was unhappy with the fact that Harris criticized Israel publicly for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and for killing civilians, especially at the current timing amid the hostage deal negotiations.

Yes, but: In her remarks Harris didn't say say Israel should just end the war unconditionally.

• She added two conditions: Security for Israel and release of all hostages.
• Her comments about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the civilian casualties were in line with previous remarks by her and other Biden administration officials.

What they're saying: "When our enemies see the U.S. and Israel are aligned it increases the chances for a hostage deal and decreases the chances for a regional escalation," the Israeli official said.

• "When there is such daylight it pushes the deal further away and brings a regional escalation closer. We hope that Harris' public criticism of Israel won't give Hamas the impression that there is daylight between the U.S. and Israel and as a result make it harder to get a deal."
• An aide to the vice president said he didn't know what the Israeli officials were talking about and stressed the private meeting between Harris and Netanyahu was "serious and collegial."
• Harris' aide said, "President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered the same message in private to Netanyahu in their meetings and it was: 'It is time to get the ceasefire and hostage deal done. That's what the Vice President said publicly as well.'"
• The aide said Harris' comments were in line with her previous remarks on the conflict and "included rock solid support for Israel on the one hand and concern about civilian casualties and humanitarian crisis in Gaza on the other hand — as she always does".

What's next: Netanyahu will meet with Harris' political rival former President Trump on Friday morning at Mar a-Lago — their first meeting since their fallout after the 2020 elections.

• On Thursday morning, a few hours before Netanyahu's meeting with Harris, Trump told Fox News that Israel needs to end the war in Gaza as soon as possible and bring back the hostages.
• But Netanyahu's criticism of Harris could be used by Trump in order to attack the vice president as part of the presidential election campaign.

Go deeper: Trump posts letter from Palestinian leader ahead of Netanyahu meeting