Elif Eralp, the Left Party’s candidate for mayor of Berlin, accidentally sent a reporter internal notes revealing her fear of people she described as having connections to Hamas. The blunder turned an interview dispute into an ugly glimpse of what this leftist candidate says privately.

Politico Europe reported Thursday that Eralp returned a transcript of her interview with a journalist for Der Spiegel, one of Germany’s best-known publications. The returned version still contained comments she had written for her staff and intended for internal use.

Germany’s Left may fail to form coalition over fears of Islamist radicals in own party

A major political scandal erupted in Berlin after staff of Elif Eralp, the Left party’s candidate for governing mayor, accidentally sent journalists a document in which she admitted fearing for her family’s safety because of people in her own party with links to Palestinian radical organizations. The day before the letter, the party invited well-known pro-Palestinian activist Ibrahim Ibrahim to a party event. He has been linked to support for the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). One of the party's MPs, Ferat Kocak, was pictured with Ibrahim Ibrahim. CDU representatives have now demanded that the Left’s potential coalition partners, the SPD and the Greens, reconsider plans to form a joint government, saying they are no longer sure how the Left will form a government if they themselves fear an “Islamist environment in their own party.” The head of Berlin’s Neukölln district said the situation shows how deeply supporters of antisemitic and terrorist organizations can be connected to the Left party. — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 29, 2026

During the interview, Eralp was questioned about antisemitism among elements of the Left Party. She acknowledged that “boundaries had been crossed at some campaign events,” according to the wording reported by Politico Europe.

The journalist then asked whether Eralp was specifically referring to German pro-Palestinian activist Ibrahim Ibrhrahim. Eralp answered “yes,” but subsequently tried to have the question removed from the interview.

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Her explanation proved far more revealing than the answer she wanted erased. Eralp told her staff that German authorities previously advised her against publicly naming particular individuals who might have links to criminal activity.

“Back then, it was about organized crime. Now it’s about people with connections to Hamas,” she wrote.

Eralp then made the personal stakes unmistakably clear in another note intended for her staff. “I cannot put myself and my family in danger for SPIEGEL. What do we do now? Cancel the entire interview?”

Another note showed that the fear was not limited to Eralp alone. She wrote that a third party, possibly a Left Party official, “does not want to name specific individuals, neither does my husband, nor do I. He is afraid of these people, and so am I.”

That admission raises an obvious and deeply uncomfortable question. If publicly identifying a pro-Palestinian activist leaves a mayoral candidate fearing for herself and her family, what exactly does that say about the political forces surrounding her party?

Politics can be a rough-and-tumble business, but physical intimidation should not be treated as a routine feature of a healthy democracy. Eralp’s private alarm becomes even more troubling given Politico Europe’s report that she wants to reduce the number of police officers in Berlin.

The contradiction is difficult to miss. Eralp worries that naming individuals could endanger her own household, yet her police policy would reduce the force responsible for protecting Berlin residents from dangerous individuals and criminal activity.

If victorious, Eralp would become Berlin’s first mayor of Turkish descent, according to al-Jazeera. She identifies as Muslim, according to the Turkish outlet Yeni Safak, and has been described in some quarters as “Berlin’s Mamdani,” after New York’s first Muslim mayor.

Eralp is not yet in charge, and her party cannot govern alone. Berlin is both Germany’s capital and one of the 16 states forming the Federal Republic of Germany, with its own state parliament.

The Left Party finished first in Berlin’s Sept. 20 election, Politico Europe reported. However, it needs support from fellow leftists in the Social Democrat and Green parties to assemble a coalition government.

Christian Democratic Union mayoral candidate Stefan Evers, whose party placed second in the Sept. 20 contest, said prospective coalition partners should take the revelation seriously. He aimed his warning directly at the Greens and Social Democrats.

“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.

The episode also feeds broader concerns about the alliance between leftist politics and Islamist activism across the West. The original report pointed to unrest in France, migration pressures in the United Kingdom, and political tensions in Minneapolis and Michigan as parts of that wider concern.

How many politicians privately share Eralp’s fears while refusing to speak plainly in public remains unknown. In this case, voters received a rare answer only because the candidate accidentally emailed the quiet part to a reporter.

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