Berlin mayoral hopeful Elif Eralp's leaked notes cite fear of Hamas supporters

Elif Eralp, the candidate of the German left-wing party Die Linke for mayor of Berlin, has been caught up in a political row after private comments on a draft interview reached people they were not meant for. Israel Hayom reported that Eralp asked for a question about a pro-Palestinian activist to be taken out of an interview with the German publication Der Spiegel, because she and her husband are afraid of people connected to Hamas. According to that report, the comments she and her staff had added to the draft were sent to Der Spiegel by mistake.

Ynet, the Israeli news site, reported that Eralp had asked to rework several of her quotes after the interview, and that a file containing her own notes went out in error. In the notes, according to Ynet, she urged that names be removed, describing the people involved as having links to Hamas and saying she could not put herself or her family at risk. Ynet described the episode as a storm in Germany. The Times of Israel also covered the story, presenting it as an admission by the candidate that she fears supporters who back Hamas.

Who Elif Eralp is and what Die Linke stands for

Die Linke, which translates as "The Left", is a party on the left of German politics. Israeli outlets reporting the story describe Eralp as a far-left figure. Israel Hayom's headline labelled her "Berlin's Mamdani", a comparison the available excerpt of its report does not explain further.

Berlin is both Germany's capital and one of its federal states, and its mayor heads the city's government. A mayoral candidacy there is therefore a prominent position in national as well as local politics, which helps explain why an apparently private editing note drew wide attention.

How the notes came out

In German journalism it is common for interviewees to review and approve their quotes before publication, a process often called authorisation. The leak appears to have arisen during this step. Eralp's side reviewed the draft text and annotated it, and those annotations then travelled further than intended.

The reports differ on one detail of that process. Israel Hayom says the annotated draft was sent to Der Spiegel by mistake. Ynet's account describes the file with her notes being returned in error, and its wording refers to her aides. The reports do not set out the full chain of how the document moved between the candidate, her staff and the publication, and this article does not attempt to resolve the difference.

The reaction from rivals

According to Ynet, Eralp's political opponents seized on the notes. They argued that she is open to pressure, and that a politician who associates with Hamas supporters should not be surprised if those supporters demand something in return. Ynet attributed these remarks to her rivals generally and, in the excerpt available, did not name the individuals who made them.

Ynet also placed the episode against what it described as ties between Die Linke and Arab crime families in Berlin, and open support among parts of the party's electorate for terrorism and hostility toward Israel. Those characterisations are Ynet's own and are not set out in the other reports.

Why it matters to readers following Israel

Hamas is the Palestinian Islamist movement that Israel has fought in Gaza. Attitudes toward Hamas and toward pro-Palestinian activism have become a recurring subject in European politics, and in Germany in particular. The notes are significant to Israeli coverage because, as reported, they show a left-wing candidate privately expressing personal fear of people in her own political surroundings who have links to the group, rather than a public statement of policy.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports available here name the pro-Palestinian activist whose question Eralp wanted removed, or identify the people she described as having Hamas connections. They do not say whether Der Spiegel published the interview with or without the question, or whether it published any part of the notes.

The reports do not include a response from Eralp or from Die Linke to the leak, and they do not say whether she has reported any threat to the police. They also do not indicate when the mayoral election takes place or how the episode has affected her campaign. The exact route by which the annotated file left her team remains unclear, given the difference between the Israel Hayom and Ynet accounts.