Berlin Investigation Committee: Coalition Accuses Culture Administration of Failure in Antisemitism Funding

During the press conference, the coalition representatives focused in particular on the former culture senators Joe Chialo and Sarah Wedl-Wilson. Chialo had advocated for the approval of the funding notices; his successor Wedl-Wilson had signed them as legally binding. The opposition sharply criticized the coalition factions for their assessment.

Daniel Wesener (Greens) accused CDU and SPD of having distorted the report through numerous amendment motions in order to shift responsibility onto the administration. The main goal of CDU and SPD was obviously to protect their own colleagues. At the same time, Wesener rejected the accusation that the administration had only raised concerns without formally remonstrating: various witnesses said that was factually incorrect.

Accusation of Distortion

At the center of the affair is the handling of the awarding procedure by the Berlin Court of Audit. The Court of Audit had determined in a report at the end of April that the funding practice was evidently unlawful. Wedl-Wilson had resigned as senator in April. The public prosecutor's office is investigating her on suspicion of serious breach of trust. A decision has not yet been made on imposing a disciplinary fine on Chialo, who had refused to testify before the committee.

The coalition accused the culture administration of having failed to use the instrument of remonstration — that is, a written protest against an instruction recognized as unlawful. Matthias Kollatz, a long-serving member of parliament and former finance senator, said: Es wäre meiner Meinung nach geboten gewesen, diese Alarmfunktion zu nutzen. At the same time, he was critical of the behavior of CDU parliamentarian Christian Goiny, who had exerted considerable pressure on the then culture senator Wedl-Wilson via short message before the approval of the funding notices. Ich habe sowas noch nie erlebt, Kollatz said.

Pressure via Text Message

Lenz agreed with this assessment. Ich kann niemand raten, das so zu machen wie Herr Goiny, he said. Withstanding pressure was part of politics, and this also applied to the political leadership of the administration. A blanket refusal to testify before parliament was something parliament could not accept. At the instigation of CDU, SPD, Greens, and the Left, disciplinary proceedings are to be initiated against Chialo for his refusal to testify.

The investigation committee had been established by the House of Representatives at the end of 2025 to clarify the affair surrounding unlawfully awarded antisemitism funding. A final report exists in draft form according to the parliamentary groups, but is not to be published until August. Until then, it remains open what consequences the political reckoning will have for those involved.

Further Proceedings Open

The Left and Greens announced that they would record their dissenting positions in separate opinions on the final report. They accuse the coalition factions of having weakened key findings through their amendment motions. The coalition insists that its assessment clearly identifies administrative responsibility.

Chialo had already been summoned once but refused to make any statement. A decision on whether he must actually pay a disciplinary fine has not yet been made. Wedl-Wilson has not publicly commented on the ongoing investigations to date.

The funding scandal has dominated political debate in Berlin over the past months. It concerns funds earmarked for projects against antisemitism that were evidently not awarded in compliance with applicable rules. The clarification of the exact responsibilities will not be completed until the publication of the final report in August.