Berlin mayoral candidate Elif Eralp's private Hamas remarks complicate coalition talks

Private remarks by Berlin mayoral candidate Elif Eralp have complicated coalition talks between her Left Party and the Social Democrats and Greens, with political opponents accusing her of hypocrisy.

The remarks were included by mistake when Eralp's office returned an annotated transcript of an interview to Der Spiegel, a customary practice in German journalism. Internal comments and annotations intended for her own team were included in the returned document.

Der Spiegel had asked Eralp about antisemitism within her party. She acknowledged that boundaries had been crossed at some campaign events. The journalists then asked whether she meant Ibrahim Ibrahim, a pro-Palestinian activist who attended the Left Party's election-night celebration. According to Der Spiegel, Eralp answered yes but later sought to remove that exchange from the transcript.

In private comments apparently addressed to her assistants, Eralp referred to advice she said she had previously received from Berlin's State Criminal Police Office, the LKA, about publicly naming individuals linked to organised crime. She wrote that the LKA had recommended never naming specific individuals, and that the issue now concerned people with connections to Hamas.

In the same comments she wrote that she could not put herself and her family in danger for Spiegel, and asked what should be done now, including whether the entire interview should be cancelled.

In a statement through his lawyers earlier this month, Ibrahim Ibrahim said he was not a member of the Left Party and rejected antisemitism. He also categorically rejected the accusation of supporting terrorism.

Stefan Evers, the CDU mayoral candidate 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 of the party were working with the very circles Eralp feared.

Former Berlin mayor Michael Müller, a Social Democrat, warned that Eralp could be vulnerable to blackmail in this position.

Eralp said on Thursday that she still wants to become Berlin's mayor. Asked about the report, she told journalists she would not comment because private, internal information had been published, but she could say clearly that, as governing mayor, she would ensure the safety of all Berliners.

The Left Party won the September 20 Berlin election and is trying to form a coalition with the Social Democrats and Greens. Its pro-Palestinian stance helped mobilise voters, but Jewish organisations have accused it of antisemitism, an accusation the party denies.