James O'Brien issues grovelling apology live on LBC after antisemitism row

LBC host James O'Brien has issued an apology after reading out a listener's antisemitic message live on air. The message, sent from someone called Chris in Oxford, claimed Jewish children in Britain are taught to view Arabs as "cockroaches to be crushed".

The listener also claimed his wife had been taught at a "Shabbat School" in Hertfordshire where she was told "one Jewish life is worth thousands of Arab lives". The comments sparked fury among listeners who slammed Mr O'Brien for not challenging them during the programme on Tuesday (July 22).

As reported by the Daily Mail, the message was read out by the radio presenter before a shortened version was shared by LBC on social media. However, it was soon deleted after a furious backlash, including the Jewish Leadership Council describing the unchallenged read-out as "irresponsible and dangerous journalism".

Mr O'Brien said live on air: "I'm fascinated by objectivity, which is why I'm going to read out this from Chris, because you do find yourself wondering how people can be looking at the same world you're looking at and arriving at such completely different conclusions.

"The polling we looked at in Ha'aretz, displaying support not just for ethnic cleansing, but also for genocide, on levels that many of us would find terrifying.

"And of course it's not confined, as Chris writes from Oxford - 'I'm loving the show' - thank you, Chris - 'and the high quality of callers today, but I do think it's worth saying that these warped views are not just an Israeli problem.

"'My wife was brought up Jewish and at Shabbat school in a leafy Hertfordshire town she was taught that one Jewish life is worth thousands of Arab lives, and that Arabs are cockroaches to be crushed.'

"'Whilst young children are being taught such hatred and dehumanisation, undoubtedly on both sides' - as Chris points out - 'then they will always be able to justify death and cruelty, and it does indeed start young.

"'There is a danger perhaps that we only ever hear one side of the dehumanisation and propaganda processes.'"

Mr O'Brien apologised for the controversy as he presented his show on Wednesday.

He said: "This is very important. At this time yesterday on the show, I read out a message from a listener called Chris who said that his wife had been brought up in the Jewish faith and had attended what he described as a 'Shabbat school'.

"He went on to make further claims about what he said she had been taught in that school.

"As with all the texts and messages that I read out on the programme, I did so in good faith, but the message has understandably upset a lot of people, and I regret taking those unsubstantiated claims at face value, and I'm genuinely sorry for that.

"It is very important that I get that out there, and thank you for your attention."

The shortened social media version said: "'At Shabbat school, my wife was taught that one Jewish life is worth a thousand Arab lives.' Listener Chris outlines to James O'Brien the 'danger" of 'propaganda processes' spreading."

As well as a number of complaints, the broadcast has also been reported to the Metropolitan Police, the Telegraph reports. Meanwhile, Ofcom confirmed that it was assessing the content.