About

Greta Thunberg Smiling At Israeli Sandwich or the Greta Thunberg Sandwich Meme refers to a series of memes using a photograph of political and climate change activist Greta Thunberg smiling as an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier hands her a sandwich wrapped in plastic onboard a Gaza-bound aid boat, The Madleen, after soldiers intercepted the craft. The boat was intercepted on June 9th, 2025, and the photo went viral over the following days. The image quickly inspired memes, many of which are critical of Thunberg over her claim that the IDF kidnapped her and the people aboard, a narrative that some saw as disingenuous, considering the IDF deported Thunberg back to Sweden. The sandwich photo is often used to suggest that Thunberg was treated well by the IDF. Thunberg dismissed the photo as an IDF "PR stunt."

Origin

On June 8th, 2025, an aid boat named The Madleen headed for Gaza with several activists and journalists aboard, including Greta Thunberg, was intercepted by Israeli forces. Thunberg claimed that the interception was an act of kidnapping, a claim that some have disagreed with. Thunberg, a journalist and two other activists from the boat were deported, while the other passengers refused deportation and were reported to be held in detention until they could argue their case to Israeli authorities.^[1]

That day, the official @IsraelMFA (Israel Foreign Ministry) X^[2] account posted a photo of Greta Thunberg smiling as an IDF soldier hands her a sandwich, writing, "Greta Thunberg is currently on her way to Israel, safe and in good spirits," garnering over 19,000 likes and 5,900 reposts in three days.

The story was reported on by Sky News and posted to YouTube^[3] the next day, garnering over 40,000 views in two days.

Spread

The sandwich photo quickly spread online, inspiring memes, many of which were critical of Thunberg for suggesting that she was kidnapped by Israel.

On June 8th, 2025, X^[4] user @CatShoshanna posted the photo of Thunberg, writing, "Find someone who looks at you the way Greta looks at this sandwich," garnering over 5,400 likes and 600 reposts in three days.

On June 9th, the official @Israel X^[5] account posted the photo along with a statement about what happened to the boat, which they call a "selfie yacht," claiming that the aid onboard will be spread to Gaza through "real humanitarian channels," garnering over 45,000 likes in two days.

That same day, the loweffortzionistmemes_ Instagram^[6] page posted a Forced To Drink Milk meme and several other memes referencing Greta Thunberg's sandwich, garnering over 4,300 likes in two days. The first meme was originally posted by Instagram^[7] user tzachi.hamafrum in Hebrew and translated.

On June 11th, 2025, Redditor u/Delicious-Mouse-1719 posted a meme using Greta's sandwich photo to the /r/Memes^[8] subreddit that gained over 615 upvotes and 240 comments in around six hours before it was deleted by moderators.

Greta Thunberg's Response to the Sandwich Photo

On June 10th, 2025, it was reported by numerous media outlets^[9] that Greta Thunberg called the photo of them handing out sandwiches a "PR stunt."

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References