Protesters gather outside Dutch Embassy to Israel wanting answers on Netanyahu-Rutte Oct. 7 call

Protesters gathered outside the Dutch Embassy in Ramat Gan on Friday, demanding the release of information about a phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Dutch PM Mark Rutte on the morning of October 7, 2023. The call took place at 10:30 a.m., before Netanyahu's first public address at 11 a.m. The PMO has not released a transcript of the call.

Protesters gathered outside the Dutch Embassy in Ramat Gan on Friday, demanding the release of information about a phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the morning of October 7, 2023. According to N12 News, the demonstrators want the Prime Minister's Office to reveal what the two discussed during their call. Netanyahu's 2023 schedule, released in April 2024 after a request from the Hatzlaha foundation, showed he spoke with Rutte at 10:30 a.m. — before his first address to the nation at 11 a.m. from the Kirya military headquarters. A Foreign Ministry statement on October 7 said Netanyahu spoke with both Rutte and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier that day, adding that both leaders expressed full support for Israel's right to defend itself. Transcripts from Netanyahu and Rutte's in-person meeting two weeks after October 7 were released by the PMO, but the content of their discussion in the first few hours of the massacre remains secret. The protesters appear to believe the contents of that discussion could provide valuable insight into government failings on October 7.