The Israelis, keenly aware of the need to improve their public image across a giddy globe where the anti-Israel animus has only increased since October 7, 2023, carefully planned how they would handle the Swedish baby-faced brat and nuisance Greta Thunberg, sailing on her good ship lollipop with her pro-Hamas BFF, the Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan, and ten others of similar antisemitic bent. So this time, the Israelis carefully prepared every move ahead of time, ensuring that there would be no violence from their side — unlike what had occurred when Israel halted the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in 2010, which had tried to run Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. More on how Israel emerged triumphant in this latest contest between the tiny and embattled Jewish state and those who wish to destroy it, can be found here: “Muddling through the ‘Madleen’: How Israel got the better of Greta Thunberg – opinion,” by Gil Hoffman, Jerusalem Post, June 11, 2025:
…THE ARMY relinquished control over how the Madleen would be handled and framed and gave it over to the Foreign Ministry, which isn’t used to winning turf wars.
Check the IDF’s X/Twitter account and WhatsApp channel in any language. You won’t find a single mention of the Madleen or anyone who was on it. The Foreign Ministry sent representatives to the IDF war room, who were in constant contact with the naval soldiers who intercepted the vessel.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit sent photographers who took pictures that quickly became the international narrative of what had happened. The photo of a female soldier giving a sandwich to Thunberg smiling in a frog hat went viral, making Israel look magnanimous.
The naval soldier who told the participants that their aid could be delivered through established humanitarian channels as she was being filmed for social media was also a female, to make the incident seem less threatening.
The Israeli Navy is currently communicating with the “selfie yacht”. Using an international civilian communication system, the Israeli Navy has instructed the “selfie yacht” to change its course due to its approach toward a restricted area. pic.twitter.com/KnSqWrsXU2— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 8, 2025
Under the leadership of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and his team, the Madleen started being called “the selfie yacht” to paint its passengers as attention-seeking, self-centered, publicity obsessed, and more interested in a media provocation than helping anyone in Gaza.
“Selfie yacht “— as the Israelis named the little boat carrying a sooterkins of aid — was indeed a trouvaille. It made a mickey-mockery of the self-absorbed Scandinavian twit, hoping to yet again garner the attention of the world. This time, dear Greta, not so much. After this Gaza fiasco, you are about to become yesterday’s news.
The food they brought was mocked, as it constituted not even a single truckload, compared to the 1,200 aid trucks with 11 million meals that Israel facilitated over the past two weeks. Had the Madleen arrived three weeks ago, a better case against Israel could have been made….
In the two weeks since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been in operation, the Israelis have delivered more than eleven million meals, including one million the very day Greta’s boat was boarded by Israeli naval commandos.
Greta Thunberg appears to be terminally confused, and how could she not be, being both autistic and uneducated, having left school at 15 to make her uninformed way in the world. Her mother from hell used her to achieve her own squalid fame, and she has been exploited by sinister forces happy to have her as the innocent face of their cause. It was unsurprising that she would end up wearing a keffiyeh and shouting her support for “Palestine” — “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — without having the faintest idea of what that chant really meant.
The “almost” outsider voice – of course – refers to Defense Minister Israel Katz, who spoke with the same bluster that has doomed Israel in past international incidents. He spoke to cameras over and over again about subjecting the activists to watch the nightmare video of Hamas attacking Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023.
No one could force them to watch Israelis get murdered as punishment, and even if they saw the video, the Israel haters might have actually enjoyed it. Comedian Elon Gold has a classic joke that antisemites get excited when they go to a Holocaust museum. Attempting to reeducate and preach to the unconvertable was pointless, except for Katz’s own political gain.
Here I disagree completely with Gil Hoffman. I think the request by Defense Minister Katz that the dozen gazanauts watch the videos, taken by the Hamas killers themselves, of the rape, torture, mutilation, and murder of 1,200 Israelis, was perfectly understandable, and the fact that they all refused to watch surely made a deep and unpleasant impression on a great many.
A little note to the Israeli boys and girls of the IDF who climbed aboard the S.S. Narrenschiff and steered it safely to port in Ashdod: Many of you, I realize with a start, are even younger than Greta Thunberg, but you are adults, and she is, and will long remain, a child. Keep it up. Everyone of sense, everyone who, despite the miasma of misinformation and lies, has kept himself (and herself too) properly informed, is on your side.
somehistory says
And the forever immature adult will not be allowed in Israel for 100 years.
My prediction: long before then, hamas and its supporters, young and old, will be gone forever.
sporticus says
That only applied to those who refused to leave voluntarily.
Thunberg was never up in court.
SKA says
Even Francisco Gil-White expressed some compassion towards this unfortunate young woman whom everyone lives to hate as “that Swedish brat.” What her narcissistic parents did to her verged on criminal exploitation of a helpless child.
Walter Sieruk says
Greta is only adding to the problems in the State of Israel, she is real rabble roster and mayhem maker, the authorities of the government of Israel were right to deport her, She’s nothing but trouble. It’s “good riddance to bad rubbish.”
Walter Sieruk says
Greta can’t stand ,so she refuses to see, on video the reality of October 7th 2023 about the horrific and ugly truth about the real character of her comrades .who are the Muslim terrorists of Hamas. Therefore, she deliberately choses to be intentionally ignorant. She refuses to watch the reality of the truth about that awful side that she is on.
Walter Sieruk says
Greta is an example of the damage and harm that a person to do who has much energy and zeal, but no knowledge, no rational thought and no understanding or wisdom.
Stive says
I remember when for good publicity, Arafat visited the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. What he actually said after is not verified, but Arafat was purported to say he really liked it and hopes to visit again.
Stive says
Correction? Holocaust museum in Washington !
John Smith says
When their boat was being intercepted by the Israelis, their leader Thiago Avila ordered all the crew to throw their mobile phones into the sea, I wonder why. Obviously there were numbers or something on those phones that they didn’t want the IDF to see. It’s a well known fact Thiago attended Hassan Nasrallah’s (leader of hezbollah) funeral. So I believe that they were more closely involved with hamas leadership than they were telling us.
somehistory says
Thanks for that information, John. they either had stuff they didn’t want discovered, and/or they were afraid of something akin to exploding beepers.
John Smith says
There was something definitely fishy with those phones. Even more fishy now that they are in the sea.
somehistory says
Humor, John, but very important. funny, it would be if Israel tracked the phones and could retrieve them.
John Smith says
Somehistory,
I was thinking exactly the same thing, as there was footage taken of them on the boat when they were gathering the phones together to throw overboard. There will be time on that footage, and through that time they may be able to approximately locate the area where they ditched the phones.
somehistory says
I hope they do, John, and hope they are able to find and discover what the phones contain.
I’ve read that several people from the “selfie” have been detained in Israel.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
From what I read, her mother from hell gave up any foreign performances in her Opera career b’cos her little darling demanded that she give up flying to save the world, and that she’d bully her parents w/ graphs & charts & warn them that they were “stealing her future”. I daresay her mother might have wished she aborted her
One thing that surprised me – while she supports Ukraine, “Palestine” and Western Sahara against Russia, Israel and Morocco, she also supports Armenia against Azerbaijan. That’s the sole thing good about her that defies logic, other than Israel’s stupid support of Azerbaijan. I guess the day Israel and Russia decide that Armenia is worth supporting, or the day she discovers that Turkey supports Azerbaijan, she might switch her support to Baku
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I actually agree w/ Gil Hoffman here, much as I admire Mr Katz. He is right that such an attempt would have been a futile exercise. Also, as far as Greta herself goes, she’s already autistic, so chances are she doesn’t have a proper emotional reaction to anything, except for her obsessive hobbyhorses. So if the idea would have been to convince her of anything, it would have been futile. As for her fellow travellers, Mr Hoffman is right – they’d probably just have enjoyed it
I do think Israel could have done well by actually sending them to Gaza, and letting them get lost there amidst the Gazans/Hamas. Nobody would have missed them
Bret says
The first sentence states the Israel knows they need to improve their public image. That is a farce. The left will lie about everything they do, no matter what. The Israelis cannot win the war against the MSM , the universities and the rest of the leftist cult They just need to protect themselves in any way they deem necessary.