Rutte claims to have had a “very useful” conversation with Netanyahu

Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Rutte said the conversation was “very useful” in better understanding Israel’s current position.

Conversation topics included the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and settler violence in the West Bank. Rutte described the latter as a situation where “everybody seems to be turning a blind eye.”

Negotiations about a ceasefire in Gaza are “laborious,” he said. “The conversations today helped me to understand what the Israeli side is worried about.”

Rutte would not clarify what exactly had been cleared up. “Those are very confidential subjects. Messages that can help a conversation like today. But it helped enormously.”

When it comes to the threats of a ground offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Rutte sensed little change in Netanyahu. “He keeps repeating, 'We are going to do it.'” Along with other countries, Rutte said they will continue to pressure Israel into abandoning the plans. “That is a humanitarian disaster in the making.”

Rutte was also planning to meet the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Cairo. That visit had been expected for some time, but a “pre-visit” in Jerusalem helped with the planning.