BERLIN — Berlin mayoral candidate Elif Eralp is facing accusations of hypocrisy from political opponents after private remarks about “people with connections to Hamas” raised questions about her party’s approach to policing and the Middle East conflict.
The controversy risks complicating efforts by Eralp’s Left Party to form a coalition with the Social Democrats and Greens after winning the Sept. 20 Berlin election. The far-left party’s pro-Palestinian stance helped mobilize voters, but Jewish organizations have accused it of antisemitism. The party denies this.
The remarks appeared in internal comments accidentally included when Eralp’s office returned an annotated transcript of an interview to Der Spiegel, as per customary German journalistic practice.
Der Spiegel asked Eralp about antisemitism within her party. Eralp acknowledged that boundaries had been crossed at some campaign events. The journalists then asked whether she was referring to Ibrahim Ibrahim, a pro-Palestinian agitator who attended the Left Party’s election-night celebration. Eralp answered “yes,” according to Der Spiegel, but later sought to remove the exchange from the interview transcript.
In private comments apparently to her assistants, inadvertently included in the returned transcript, Eralp referred to advice she said she had previously received from Berlin’s State Criminal Police Office (LKA) about publicly naming individuals linked to organized crime: “The LKA said at the time that they recommend never naming specific individuals. Back then, it was about organized crime. Now it’s about people with connections to Hamas.”
She added: “I cannot put myself and my family in danger for SPIEGEL. What do we do now? Cancel the entire interview?”
In a statement through his lawyers earlier this month, Ibrahim said he was not a member of the Left Party and said he rejected antisemitism. “I categorically reject the accusation of supporting terrorism,” his statement said.
In another private comment on the Ibrahim Ibrahim question, Eralp referred to an unidentified man by his first name, saying he “does not want to name specific individuals, neither does my husband, nor do I. He is afraid of these people, and so am I.” Der Spiegel did not identify the unknown man or explain his relationship to Eralp.
The CDU’s mayoral candidate, Stefan Evers, who placed second in the vote, said the remarks exposed a contradiction between Eralp’s concerns and her party’s position. The Left Party has called for reducing police numbers, while Evers alleged that members were working with the people Eralp feared.
“If the woman who is supposed to govern Berlin in the future is so afraid for herself and her family that she hesitates to publicly name terrorist sympathizers, while parts of her own party are working hand in hand with those very circles, then reasonable voices within the Greens and [Social Democrats] must finally pull the emergency brake,” Evers told POLITICO.
Former Berlin Mayor Michael Müller, a Social Democrat, warned that Eralp could be vulnerable to blackmail.
Eralp said Thursday she still wants to become Berlin’s mayor. Asked about the report, she told journalists: “I will not comment because private, internal information has been published. But what I can say very clearly is that, as governing mayor, I will ensure the safety of all Berliners.”