BBC’s Gary Lineker on his view of Hamas war: not ‘a Jewish thing. I see it as the Israeli government’

Days after he reposted, removed and explained as an oversight a tweet urging FIFA and the International Olympic Committee to join a global boycott of Israel, Gary Lineker speaks to The Guardian about Israel’s war against Hamas, saying that “one atrocity does not deserve 80 atrocities. Or more.”

Lineker, the BBC’s highest paid presenter with some 8.9 followers on X alone, is asked about the fact that he has not come out against Hamas’s atrocities on October 7.

He says that the has not lost Jewish friends over his views, but that he has “associates” he has decided not to see, saying that “their views are so hardcore.”

“But I don’t see it as a Jewish thing. I see it as the Israeli government. Obviously, they’re responding to 7 October, but crikey, one atrocity does not deserve 80 atrocities. Or more,” he says.

He says that while some of his Jewish friends have asked him to show support for Israel, “I had to say, ‘What?! Look, absolutely no. And nor should you.’”

The UK has experienced a surge in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity since October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping at least 240 people to Gaza.

Israel then launched a military campaign — aimed at toppling the Hamas regime which has ruled Gaza since 2007 — and securing the release of the hostages. The offensive has come under harsh international criticism for its mounting death toll.

Lineker is also asked about the fact that he posted an an interview with Israeli academic Raz Segal, who calls Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza “textbook genocide.”

The Guardian writes that Lineker “rolls his eyes” when asked about the clip.

“But it wasn’t my opinion. It was [Raz Segal’s]. I thought it was well argued and worth listening to. It’s for others to decide what they think. For me, what’s going on is completely distressing,” Lineker says.

“It’s another reason why I find it difficult to look at social media. Because I can’t bear looking at little children being killed constantly,” he says.

Lineker, who hosts the flagship soccer highlight show “Match of the Day,” has been the focus of an ongoing dispute over the impartiality of the BBC.