A dispute over where legitimate criticism of Israel ends and antisemitism begins has flared within Germany’s Left Party after its Lower Saxony branch adopted a resolution condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank. The resolution’s headline — rejecting “the Zionism that actually exists today” — drew swift backlash for blurring political critique and questions about Israel’s right to exist.
Stefanie Schüler‑Springorum, a historian who heads the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the Technical University of Berlin and helped draft the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA), warned that the wording is vague and risks sliding into antisemitic territory. The JDA was created partly in reaction to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s 2016 definition, with its authors arguing that the IHRA text can conflate legitimate criticism of Israeli policy with antisemitic language. Schüler‑Springorum said using the term Zionism in this context is problematic because it has many historical meanings, and criticizing the “Zionism that actually exists” can be read as targeting people who support the State of Israel.
National party leaders quickly distanced themselves from the Lower Saxony motion. In a joint statement they said there can be no compromises on propositions that call the party’s foundations into question, a position Schüler‑Springorum described as credible given earlier public comments by the federal leadership. She specifically excluded the federal co‑chairs from her criticism.
The Lower Saxony association told DW it understands that Zionism is interpreted in diverse ways, that states and ideologies should be open to critique, and that some formulations in the resolution may have been misleading. The branch said it regretted any impression of bias, takes complaints — especially from Jewish organizations — seriously, and intends to enter dialogue on the matter.
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, called the text an attack on the Jewish people’s right to self‑determination. The dispute prompted Andreas Büttner, Brandenburg’s commissioner for antisemitism, to quit the Left Party. Büttner said he regards anti‑Zionism as fundamentally antisemitic because it challenges Israel’s right to exist, and that the phrase rejecting the prevailing form of Zionism effectively rejects the state. He also said he had tried for years to raise these issues inside the party and felt recent signals from leadership came too late.
The row comes as the Left rides an electoral upswing following a stronger than expected result in the 2025 federal election. Still, political scientist Antonios Souris of the Free University of Berlin warns the boost may not last. He notes deep splits inside the party on multiple issues — with the Israel–Palestine conflict particularly divisive — and sees potential for further disputes in cultural debates and on university campuses. Those tensions could complicate the Left’s hopes of entering state governments or forming coalitions, including in Berlin where the party polls around 15 percent ahead of autumn elections. Observers say it remains to be seen whether the national leadership’s public distancing will resolve conflicts at the grassroots.
This article was originally written in German. Every Tuesday, DW editors round up developments in German politics and society in the Berlin Briefing newsletter.