The Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has said that the video purporting to explain Zionism in Gary Lineker’s now notorious “rat” post was “precisely” the kind of video which sows the seeds of the shooting attack that took place in Washington DC.
Writing in the Telegraph, Mirvis said: “When the BBC’s highest profile football pundit and presenter was forced to delete a post he had shared on social media that purported to “explain” Zionism, much of the reaction to it understandably focused on the graphic of a rat which accompanied it.
“Such grotesque imagery seemed reminiscent of the propaganda of the darkest regimes of the last century, and it was rightly condemned.
“But while the imagery betrayed the hatred of the original poster, the substance of the video itself, which was at least as toxic, went largely overlooked but it is precisely the content of that kind of video which sows the seeds of the murderous violence we saw in Washington DC this week.”
Lineker announced last week that he was leaving the BBC early by ‘mutual agreement’ just days after he apologised for sharing an Instagram post with antisemitic connotations.
The corporation’s highest-paid star was expected to lead the BBC’s coverage of the 2026 World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada but will not present at the tournament.
Last week, Lineker "apologised unreservedly" after facing allegations of antisemitism after sharing an anti-Zionist Instagram video that featured an image of a cartoon rat.
In his apology, the former England star said: "On Instagram I reposted material which I have since learned contained offensive references," he said in a statement. "I very much regret these references.”
In his article, Mirvis went on: “In the video, the speaker defines Zionism as, ‘the idea of giving exclusive rights to one group of people, at the expense of another group of people’.
“This is a slur, now repeated and shared so often that it usually escapes scrutiny: that Zionism is a hateful, hierarchical and prejudiced ideology. That claim is a lie. And it is time for all decent people to call it out for what it is: a distortion of truth and an assault on Jewish identity.
“Zionism is the movement for Jewish self-determination in our ancestral homeland. No more and no less. It is the belief, rooted in millennia of longing, prayer and historical connection, that the Jewish people – like any other people on earth – have the right to live in safety and sovereignty in the land of their origin. It does not agitate against the welfare of Palestinians.”
