“Mangy mutt” – left-wing politician declares critics to be “enemies”

At the state party conference of the Berlin Left, MP Andreas Umgelter sharply attacked critics of his party. “We don’t have opponents, we have enemies,” said Umgelter, according to “Spiegel”. He therefore described critics as “mangy mutts”. His comments were met with applause, according to the report.

Otherwise, the party conference was largely quiet. There was little open criticism of the results of the explorations on stage. Several delegates, including top candidate Elif Eralp, declared their commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism to applause.

After publication, they received calls for their resignation and hatred, said Eralp. But she won't let herself be intimidated. There have long been disputes on the Berlin left about how to deal with Israel and anti-Semitism.

“Mistakes that clearly happened to us too”

According to the report, Eralp did not comment specifically on this. She spoke of “mistakes that have clearly happened with us and that we cannot allow.”

Israel's ambassador Ron Prosor warned of the consequences for dealing with anti-Semitism in view of a possible left-wing alliance in Berlin. “It would be a fatal signal if hatred of Jews and Israel became socially acceptable again here,” said Prosor.

According to “Bild”, there is also resistance to a red-green-red alliance within the SPD. An initiative against collaboration with the left was launched under the title “Not at any price”. The signatories include former Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and former SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel.