Germany’s Left Begins Talks to Form Berlin State Government

Germany’s anti-capitalist Left party took a step closer to power in the state of Berlin after its election victory last month as it seeks to follow through on a pledge to ease rising rents by seizing large property portfolios from private owners.

The German capital’s Social Democrats and Greens agreed to enter exploratory talks to form a government with the Left party on Thursday after reaching an agreement on how to address antisemitism, the parties said in a statement. The Left has faced accusations that it tolerates or promotes forms of antisemitism.

The surge in support for the Left contrasts with stunning gains for the far-right Alternative for Germany party in two other state elections last month. Left candidate Elif Eralp, who would become the first Berlin mayor of Turkish descent. Eralp has strongly condemned more extreme elements of the party and reached out to Berlin’s Jewish community during campaigning.

Eralp campaigned on a platform of affordability, vowing to implement a 2021 city referendum that called on the government to expropriate housing portfolios from profit-seeking real estate companies — an approach rejected by the SPD and Greens. Any breakthrough hinges on a compromise among the three parties to form a government, which would oust the center-right Christian Democrats from power in the city of almost 4 million.

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Accusations of antisemitism in the Left are broadly linked to protests and criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, a polarizing topic in a country where support for the Jewish state is considered Staatsräson, or a fundamental principle of state policy. Much criticism has focused on the presence of an activist with ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the European Union designates a terrorist organization, at an election night event celebrating the Left victory on Sept. 20.

The joint statement today said Israel’s right to exist is “non-negotiable,” condemned Hamas’s 2023 attack and set up a group to assess taking disciplinary action against those who violate the party’s position. It added that criticism of Israel is legitimate and doesn’t justify antisemitic acts.

Party members “stand for a city in which violence and terror are neither glorified nor relativized, in which Israel’s right to exist is not called into question and in which there is no place for any form of antisemitism,” the three parties said.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned the SPD and Greens against forming a coalition with the Left, pointing to rising antisemitism in Germany. He reinforced his position this week, saying that the two parties have a potential majority in Berlin’s state parliament with the CDU, which has governed since 2023.

“I appeal to everyone in the political center, but above all to the Greens and the SPD, to live up to their responsibility and prevent a Left party mayor,” Merz told a conference this week.

The Left won more than 25% of the vote in Berlin, while Merz’s CDU secured less than 19%. But the conservatives would still have enough to lead another government if talks with the three left-wing parties fail.