President Trump said Monday that climate activist Greta Thunberg might need anger management after her Gaza-bound aid boat was intercepted by Israel.
“She’s a strange person. She’s a young, angry person,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “She’s certainly different. I think she has to go to an anger management class. That’s my primary recommendation for her.”
Ms. Thunberg and other activists arrived at an Israeli port after being stopped by Israeli authorities and detained. Israel’s foreign ministry said she and the 12 other activists were receiving medical checkups. They are expected to be held at a detention facility in Ramle before being deported, according to Adalah, the legal rights group representing them.
The trip was organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The group was “kidnapped by Israeli forces” while trying to get aid to Gaza, the coalition said in a statement.
“The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted and its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food and medical supplies — confiscated,” it said.
The coalition said the boat, called Madleen, was intercepted in international waters, roughly 120 miles from Gaza.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry documented the capture of the boat, which they mocked as the “selfie yacht” on their X page.
“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the social media post on Sunday said.
“While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity — and which included less than a single truckload of aid — more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies,” it said. “The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.”
In a prerecorded message on social media, Ms. Thunberg said that if the video was released, the boat had been seized by Israeli forces or allies of Israel.
“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,” she said in the video.
When Mr. Trump was asked if he thinks Israel kidnapped the activists, he said, “Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg.”
The president also said his Monday phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “went very well.”
“We discussed a lot of things, and it went very well, very smooth,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
