Berlin, October 15th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – In the federal state of Berlin, “Die Linke”, the SPD and the Greens are resuming their exploratory talks. This is happening in spite of a new scandal. According to critics, the far-left “Die Linke” does not really seem to support an agreement it struck to with the left-wing Greens and the center-left SPD on fighting antisemitism in a future government coalition.
“Die Linke” won the latest Berlin state election almost four weeks ago, even though (or because) antisemitism scandals broke in this party every few days:
- Days before the election, their candidate for Governing Mayor, Elif Eralp, precondemned Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview, saying he was guilty of war crimes in Gaza, in spite of the fact that the Jewish state fed and protected civilians there while it fought the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Besides, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has not convicted him, while Eralp, who is neither a judge nor a Foreign Minister or head of government, obviously has.
- An activist hostile to Israel and with ties to the Palestinian terror organization PFLP was present at “Die Linke”‘s election party on September 20th.
- Two weeks ago, members of a working group within “Die Linke” demanded “full political and material support for the Palestinian resistance in all of its forms”. The Palestinian leadership, both Hamas and the PA, use the word “resistance” for terror attacks in which Israelis are murdered.
- Ahead of the Berlin state election, at a party “Die Linke” organized in August, a rapper sang lyrics hostile to Israel and even supported the Palestinian terror. While he rapped “Yalla Yalla Intifada” and “Death to the IDF”, party members danced. Nobody stopped the “artist”.
Criminal Clans
On top of these antisemitism scandals, another issue was reported: There are possible ties between “Die Linke” and criminal clans from Lebanon and Gaza. Members of the latter appeared at the same election party on September 20th.
After days of talks about the antisemitism problem in “Die Linke”, its negotiators in Berlin, and those of the SPD and the Greens recently agreed on measures to fight Jew hatred and mechanisms that were supposed to apply in case antisemitism appears in “Die Linke” yet again, or in any other party involved. Later, the members of “Die Linke” in the Berlin House of Representatives only supported a modified, watered-down version.
Unlike the three-party agreement, the one signed by the representatives of the “Linke” does not contain relevant aspects: In this document, it says not only Jewish life, but also “Muslim and Palestinian life” needed to be protected, even though the goal of the three-party agreement was to protect Jews in Berlin against the rampant antisemitism from the far right, the far left and from within parts of the large Muslim community in the German capital.
Existential Part
The agreement signed by “Die Linke”, the Greens and the SPD says Israel’s right to exist was “non-negotiable”, while it does not in the version signed by the representatives of “Die Linke”. Another important part is missing in the latest document: According to the three potential coalition partners’ version, the police and the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution were supposed to be strengthened in efforts to fight Jew hatred. This existential part is missing in the new document the representatives signed.
There are more differences between the agreement and the party declaration: “Die Linke” left out the part about Israel-related antisemitism and the rejection of the antisemitic BDS movement which organizes boycotts against the only Jewish state (“Don’t buy from Israel!”), nine decades after the Nazis boycotted Jewish businesses in Germany (“Don’t buy from Jews!”).
After the three-party agreement was signed, many members of “Die Linke” had rejected its content. According to critics, this aspect and the latest drama show that “Die Linke” cannot be trusted when it comes to sticking to agreements or protecting Berlin’s Jews. Now, “Die Linke” says the agreement it struck with the Greens and the SPD was still valid.
In spite of this chaos, the exploratory talks were supposed to continue today.