Pro-Israel groups call for Gary Lineker's removal over anti-Zionist post

Pro-Israel groups have called for the BBC to dismiss Gary Lineker after the former footballer and veteran sports presenter reposted a video on Instagram criticising Zionism - the political ideology underpinning the Israeli state and its continued occupation of Palestinian land.

The video, originally posted by the Palestine Lobby account, features Palestinian-Canadian lawyer Diana Buttu, and is captioned "Zionism explained in less than two minutes". In it, Buttu describes Zionism as a system that privileges one group over another and denies Palestinians equal rights.

"They take the land, claim that it’s theirs, and then they make concessions on land that doesn’t actually belong to them," Buttu says in the clip.

"There isn’t a single Zionist who’s able to say that they actually believe that Palestinians have the exact same rights as Israelis who are living in that country," she continues.

Lineker’s sharing of the video triggered swift condemnation from pro-Israel organisations, not only for its message but for a rat emoji added by the original poster.

Groups claimed the symbol evoked Nazi-era antisemitic propaganda, a comparison often invoked to conflate criticism of Israel or Zionism with hatred toward Jews.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it would lodge a formal complaint with the BBC.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, which has recently punished members for opposing Israel's war on Gaza, said the broadcaster "should ask him [Lineker] to leave now rather than allowing him to dictate his own terms".

Lineker’s agent later clarified that the presenter had deleted the post after becoming aware of the emoji. "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 agent said.

The incident is the latest in a pattern where pro-Israel lobbying groups use accusations of antisemitism to discredit or silence expressions of Palestinian solidarity or anti-Zionist critique - a framing that has been repeatedly challenged by Jewish and non-Jewish anti-Zionists alike, who argue that equating Zionism with Jewish identity is in itself antisemitic.

Lineker has previously criticised Israel's onslaught of Gaza. In an interview earlier this year, he said: "What’s going on there - the mass murder of thousands of children - is probably something we should have an opinion on."

In 2024, he was among hundreds of British public figures who demanded the reinstatement of a pulled BBC documentary on Israel's war on Gaza. He also came under fire after sharing a post calling for Israel's suspension from FIFA over its military conduct in Gaza.

Pro-Israel groups have long equated pro-Palestinian activism with antisemitism. Similar tactics were used to target climate activist Greta Thunberg in 2023 after she posted a Gaza solidarity message accompanied by an image of herself holding a cuddly toy octopus.

Thunberg later explained the toy was commonly used among neurodivergent individuals as a communication tool.