The name Sahra Wagenknecht does not mean much to Israelis, but this is someone whose statements against Israel are already troubling many German Jews.
Until October 2023, she was co-chair of the socialist Die Linke Party in the German parliament. But she broke off with some of her peers and founded her own radical and populist party.
President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Josef Schuster warned against the new party. "The party's populist positions fuel hatred toward Israel," Schuster said in an interview over the weekend with the Die Welt newspaper, Schuster also said that "it has a tendency to adopt conspiracy theories."
According to him, Although the party that won an impressive six percent of the vote in the European Parliament elections has leftist roots, its positions on immigration, the war in Ukraine, gender and climate, are much closer to those of the far-right party Alternative for Germany.
According to him, "Wagenknecht presents an abstract picture of David versus Goliath in everything related to the war in the Middle East. Israel is at war against the terrorist organization Hamas and not against the Palestinian population." Schuster also claimed that her positions are similar to those voiced in demonstrations against Israel and in the culture world, which results in Israeli artists being canceled or not invited at all.
Wagenknecht and her party leaders, like the other German parties, have announced they will not cooperate with Alternative for Germany. However, many political commentators think that cooperation between the parties is possible after the elections in three German states next month. "There are many similar traits in the platforms on the war in Ukraine, refugees and opposition to NATO," argued political scientist Werner Patzelt.
Alternative for Germany leads in the latest election polls in all three states with 25-31 percent. Wagenknecht's party is the biggest surprise, projected to win 13-19 percent of voters in the three states.
Finally, Schuster warned that Wagenknecht's statements attract extremists from all sides, often adopting false conspiracy theories. He cited antisemitic narratives espoused by her during protests against COVID-19 restrictions.