29 Sep 2026 Policing Solidarity: Open letter by Berlin Jews over antisemitism allegations to the Linke

Posted at 13:10h in Human rights by

After its Berlin election success, the far-left party Die Linke faces a wave of antisemitism accusations. Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor accused Die Linke of ‘deep-rooted’ antisemitism after its Berlin election victory, escalating concerns raised a day earlier by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the party’s record on antisemitism. The party leader Elif Eralp has rejected the allegations and vowed to protect Jewish life.

The main Jewish community group in Germany urged the far-left Die Linke to tackle antisemitism in its ranks as the party seeks to take power in Berlin following an election victory. Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews, acknowledged Eralp had made her opposition to antisemitism clear. “I have heard her statements,” he said. “But the problem I see is that her stance is obviously not shared within the party she represents in Berlin, at least not by everyone — I fear not even by a large majority.”

Some 150 Jews in Berlin, many of them Israeli citizens, have signed an open letter defending the left-wing Die Linke party after its victory in this week’s Berlin election, amid efforts by Israel’s ambassador and German Jewish establishment organizations to keep the party out of government over allegations of antisemitism. The Jewish Berliners signing the letter include author Deborah Feldman and philosopher Susan Neiman. They reject the claim that the party endangers Jewish communities and warn against turning antisemitism into a political instrument.

The context matters. In June, Die Linke became the only party in the Bundestag to call Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. Our research Policing Solidarity documents how Germany has widened the space in which criticism of Israel is treated as antisemitism or extremism, from the 2024 Bundestag resolution tying state funding to the IHRA definition, to bans on slogans and keffiyehs in schools. When the accusation is stretched to cover political dissent, it becomes harder to fight real antisemitism. Distinguishing the two is essential to any serious human-rights assessment.

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