BBC Match of the Day host, Gary Lineker, shared then deleted an anti-Zionist post on Instagram, which referenced the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine

BBC boss, Tim Davie, has broken his silence after Match of the Day star, Gary Lineker, shared a controversial anti-Zionist post(Image: James Gill – Danehouse, Getty Images)

BBC boss, Tim Davie, has broken his silence after Match of the Day star, Gary Lineker, shared a controversial anti-Zionist post on Instagram, which referenced the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. The former footballer, 64, shared a video with his 1 million followers from the group Palestine Lobby, which was titled ‘Zionism explained in two minutes.’

The post featured a picture of a rat, which has historically been used as an antisemitic insult, referring to language used in Nazi Germany to characterise Jews. Gary immediately deleted the post after realising the significance of the symbol, according to his agent.

Responding to the controversy at a press conference this morning, Tim Davie was asked what he thought of Gary Linker’s post(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Responding to the controversy at a press conference this morning, Director-General, Davie, was asked whether he thought Gary, who is leaving the BBC after the 2026 World Cup, had broken the broadcaster’s rules in terms of impartiality. Insisting he ‘wasn’t giving a politician’s answer’, he responded: “When it comes to presenters, I’ll just say that the BBC’s reputation is held by everyone. And when someone makes a mistake, it costs us.

“And I think we absolutely need people to be exemplars of the BBC values and follow our social media policies, simple as that.”

In a statement to the BBC, Gary’s agent said: “Whilst viewing and reposting a video, Gary did not notice a rodent emoticon added by the author of the post. Although if he had, he would not have made any connection. The repost has been removed.”

The group Campaign Against Antisemitism has condemned the dad-of-three for the post, and said it would be submitting a complaint to the BBC.

In a post on X, they said: “Nothing to see here. Just Gary Lineker’s Instagram account sharing an anti-Israel video misrepresenting Zionism, complete with a rat emoji.”

In an interview with the BBC last month, Gary told Amol Rajan that he was in no doubt about “where I stand” on the situation in Gaza and Palestine.

The conflict was triggered on October 7 2023 when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Since then, Israel has launched a huge offensive on Gaza, with almost 53,000 Palestinians killed in the military campaign. Nearly a third of these are under 18, Reuters reports.

Gary is no stranger to social media controversy, having aired his views on a number of subjects on X and Instagram, including the Conservatives, Brexit, asylum seekers – and sewage.

In March 2023, he was suspended from the BBC after comparing the language used to launch a then-government asylum seeker policy to 1930s Germany, describing the scheme as “immeasurably cruel”.

Earlier this year, the star signed an open letter to the BBC, calling on it to reinstate a documentary called Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone. The programme was pulled after it emerged that a boy featured in it was the son of a Hamas official.