Dublin removes ‘Herzog’ name from park honoring late Israeli president despite Irish gov't opposing the move

The Dublin City Council revealed this week that it has decided to remove the name “Herzog” from a historical park in the capital’s Rathgar neighborhood following pressure from anti-Israel activists.

The park was named “Herzog Park” in 1995 in honor of Chaim Herzog, Israel’s late sixth president, who was raised in Dublin and whose father served as Ireland’s Chief Rabbi. Chaim Herzog is also the father of Israel’s current president, Isaac Herzog.

The council has not yet chosen a new name for the park, though some members reportedly support renaming it “Free Palestine Park.” It is located next to Ireland’s only Jewish school.

While anti-Israel sentiments are widespread in Ireland, the city council’s decision has caused strong reactions. 

Former Irish justice minister Alan Shatter condemned the decision as antisemitic.

“Next step – the committee’s shameful report has to be considered at a full meeting of Dublin City Council. It seems some members of the Council are determined to make Dublin an inhospitable & hostile place for Dublin’s Jewish Community & Jewish children attending their school in Rathgar. The full council should reject this egregious antisemitic committee decision. The government should also step up & oppose what is proposed,” Shatter wrote in a post on 𝕏. 

Ireland’s current Chief Rabbi, Yoni Wieder, also blasted the city council’s decision: "Herzog Park is more than a name on a sign. For those who live nearby, and especially for the neighbouring Jewish families and schools, it’s a place filled with memory, and an important reminder that our community has deep roots in Dublin,” Wieder said. 

"Chaim Herzog was shaped by this city, and he loved it in return. Dubliners loved him too, not only his childhood friend President Cearbhall O’Dálaigh, but all who saw in him a local boy who rose to become a head of state and yet never lost his connection to Ireland," he continued.

The chief rabbi noted that Herzog was warmly received when he returned to Ireland as the president of Israel. 

"The country took great pride in the fact that he was the only visiting head of state who spoke fluent Irish." 

"To remove this name would be to erase a central piece of Irish-Jewish history, and send a painful message of isolation to our small community," Wieder warned.

The European Jewish Congress slammed Dublin’s decision: "To single out an Irish-Jewish figure for removal from the public space sends an unmistakably harmful message, that Jewish heritage is conditional, vulnerable and disposable,” said Raya Kalenove, the organization’s executive vice president.

The Israeli President’s Office also criticized Dublin’s decision: "Beyond being an Israeli leader, Chaim Herzog was one of the heroes of the campaign to liberate Europe from the Nazis. His father, Isaac, served as the first Chief Rabbi of a free Ireland. Naming the park after Chaim three decades ago expressed appreciation for his legacy and the deep friendship between the Irish and Jewish people, which unfortunately has deteriorated in recent years."

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the Dublin city council and argued that Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Ireland in 2024 due to “anti-Semitic actions, rhetoric” was justified. 

"There is no decision more accurate and just than my decision to close our embassy in Dublin,” Sa'ar stated. "Dublin has become the capital of antisemitism in the world. The Irish antisemitism and anti-Israeli obsession is sickening."

Ireland has emerged as one of the most anti-Israel countries in Europe and the wider Western world. The Irish government has been among the Jewish state’s harshest Western critics during the Gaza war. The widespread Irish hostility towards Israel appears to go beyond political disagreements concerning the Middle East conflicts.

A study conducted in December 2024 revealed that antisemitism in Ireland has reached “medieval” levels. Irish school textbooks are filled with antisemitic content that seeks to downplay the Holocaust and deny the Jewish people’s ties to their historical homeland, Israel.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Helen McEntee criticized Dublin’s decision and urged the city council to reconsider it.

"Renaming a park in Dublin in this way, the name of an Irish-Jewish man, has no bearing on Israeli government actions in the West Bank and Gaza, and has no place in our inclusive republic. In my view, the name change should not proceed, and I urge Dublin City Council members to vote against it," McEntee said in an official statement.