Berlin Culture Senator Resigns Over Unlawful Allocation of €2.6 Million in Antisemitism Prevention Funds
Introduction
Sarah Wedl-Wilson, Berlin’s culture senator, has resigned following a state audit that found €2.6 million in public funds for antisemitism prevention programs were distributed arbitrarily and in violation of budgetary regulations. Mayor Kai Wegner accepted her resignation on Friday, five months before the city’s parliamentary election.
Main Body
The resignation stems from a report by the Berlin Court of Audit, released on Thursday, which determined that the culture department’s procedures for processing and disbursing grants to 13 projects were unlawful. The auditors stated that the funding decisions lacked proper criteria and that necessary technical and content-based reviews were not conducted. The funds were allocated to a list of projects compiled by lawmakers from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the senior coalition partner in Berlin’s government, despite internal staff warnings that the groups had not been adequately vetted. Wedl-Wilson, who is not a member of any political party, authorized the payments after CDU representatives exerted pressure for rapid approval. She had previously dismissed her state secretary, Oliver Friederici, on Tuesday in connection with the affair. Opposition parties, including the Greens and the Left, accused two CDU lawmakers of improper influence, a charge the legislators deny. A parliamentary committee of inquiry established in December is investigating the allegations. Among the recipients was the Zera Institute, an interdisciplinary think tank that received €390,000. Its director, Maral Salmassi, had previously referred to philanthropist George Soros as a “parasite” on social media and compared The Guardian newspaper to a Nazi-era publication. Matthias J. Becker, a researcher hired by the institute to study online antisemitism, was alleged to have falsely claimed an affiliation with the University of Cambridge; he denied misrepresenting his credentials. Salmassi characterized the scrutiny as a politically motivated press campaign. The audit focused exclusively on the legality of the funding process, not on the quality of the projects’ work. Authorities must now decide whether the organizations will be required to repay the public funds they received. Wedl-Wilson, a British-Austrian national with a background in classical music management, assumed office in May 2025, succeeding Joe Chialo, who resigned over severe budget cuts to the arts. Her resignation is the third departure from Wegner’s cabinet since he took office in April 2023; former transport senator Manja Schreiner left in April 2024 after losing her doctorate in a plagiarism case. The controversy occurs against a backdrop of rising antisemitic incidents in Berlin following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian activists have contested the definition of such offenses, arguing it is overly broad and includes legitimate criticism of the Israeli government. Werner Graf, the Green Party’s candidate to challenge Wegner in the September election, stated that the affair had inflicted immeasurable damage on both the fight against antisemitism and public trust in democratic institutions.
Conclusion
The resignation of Sarah Wedl-Wilson marks the latest disruption in Berlin’s coalition government ahead of the September parliamentary election. The case highlights tensions between political influence and administrative due process in the allocation of public funds for sensitive social programs.