UK
Jonathan Dimbleby claims Jewish leaders boost antisemitism by failing to criticise Netanyahu
The BBC presenter reveals he had wanted to make that point during a talk at Bergen-Belsen death camp
April 25, 2025 12:54
The BBC presenter reveals he had wanted to make that point during a talk at Bergen-Belsen death camp
April 25, 2025 12:54BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby has criticised Jewish communal leaders for “exacerbating antisemitism” by failing to criticise the Israeli government.
Speaking on the Beeb Watch podcast, Dimbleby, 80, explained that his stance on the issue had led him to withdraw from a recent speaking engagement at a Jewish event marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
The organiser had objected to him wanting to make the “distinction between antisemitism and anti-Netanyahuism”, he said.
He added: “I thought it would be very useful if more of the Jewish community leaders in the Jewish community here made that distinction – not only because, but partially because – one of the consequences of not being critical of the government of Israel today is that it exacerbates that antisemitism, which is so horrific, because it allows antisemites to say, ‘Oh, well, they all — none of them care about the Palestinians. They all want to — they all want to slaughter Palestinians,’” Dimbleby said. “And that is really dangerous.”
Dimbleby recounted how, following his request to make this point, the event organisers declined, despite a courteous exchange.
“I talked to the organiser and said – we talked about how many people likely there, what sort of people, etc – and it was going to be a Jewish audience. And I said, ‘I’ll gladly do so, but I want to say something at the end of it.’” However, Dimbleby was told that his remarks would not be appropriate for the occasion.
“We ended up mutually agreeing that I wouldn’t speak at this occasion. Well, that is a measure of great, I think, unwisdom on the part of that individual and those he thought he was representing,” he said.
He further noted that this situation reflected a broader societal tendency to avoid controversial topics, particularly when it comes to Israel.
“We are frightened of speaking because we are frightened of being charged with that heinous offence of antisemitism.”
Dimbleby, a long-time critic of Israel's government, also addressed the troubling rise of antisemitism, particularly in Europe.
“But I am horrified by the rise of antisemitism in Europe, not least in Germany which was the cradle of the Holocaust,” he said.
He added, “I look at today. I look at Britain. I look at antisemitism, I look at racism... we’re seeing this disturbing evidence – in Britain, of all countries, I want to say, but I shouldn’t – of young people who say, ‘We need a strong leader,’” he said.
Dimbleby previously criticised the Royal Television Society for retracting an award for Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone following backlash over the documentary’s use of a Hamas minister’s son.
Dimbleby described the RTS’s decision as cowardly, reaffirming his stance against censorship in journalism.