Gary Lineker slammed by Avram Grant for ‘silence’ over Israel-Hamas conflict | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant has slammed Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker after he decided to “remain silent” over the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Football manager Israel Grant, 68, released an emotional statement to Lineker, 62, telling him he had lost respect for him after he failed to speak out about the October 7 attacks.

In a video monologue, Grant accused the pundit of having a “double standard” when it came to Israel.

“I have a message for Gary Lineker who I had a lot of respect for as a football player, but to be honest, that respect has gone,” he said.

“I follow Gary, he comments on everything, he even said that the current policy of the UK Government reminded him of the policy of the German government in the 1930s.

“I know about this policy, my father suffered for this policy, my grandfather, my grandmother were murdered because of the policy of the Germans.

“The only thing close to it is what happened on October 7. What happened, I can’t even describe.”

He went on to describe the brutal attacks that took place in Israel on October 7, before continuing: “’I’ve never heard of anything like this in my life, and what did you do? Silence. Nothing.

“I think you even said that Tottenham are first in the league. That was what was important to you. So you have a double standard.”

Express.co.uk has contacted Lineker for comment.

The October 7 attacks, carried out by Hamas, were the deadliest attack in Israel in years and, since then, violent conflict has erupted.

So far, 11,000 Palestinians, including what are believed to be around 4,500 children, have been reported dead.

It is also estimated that 1,400 Israelis died, with most of those deaths occurring on the first date of October 7.

BBC star Lineker has been known to cause controversy by using his social media platform to comment on a number of political topics.

Back in March, he compared the language used in the Government’s asylum policy launch to Germany in the 1930s.

However, he refrained from commenting on the ongoing situation in Israel and Gaza, instead simply promoting an episode of The Rest Is Politics podcast, where co-hosts Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart discussed the conflict.