A public park in Dublin, Ireland, may have the name of a former Israeli president removed pending a city council vote on Monday, prompting fierce criticism from Israel’s leadership and accusations of antisemitism.
Herzog Park in Rathgar, south Dublin, was named in 1995 after Israel’s sixth president, Chaim Herzog, who served as the head of state from 1983 to 1993. He was born in Belfast and lived as a child in Dublin when his father was the chief Rabbi of Ireland. He is the father of Israel’s current president, Isaac Herzog.
Dublin City Council members are expected to vote on Monday following a designated committee’s recommendation to remove Herzog’s name from the park and proceed with a consultation process to determine a new appropriate name, according to a report by the Irish Times.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Helen McEntee, said in a statement that “to remove the name of an Irish Jewish man has nothing to do with this and has no place in our inclusive republic,” adding that, in her view, the name change “should not proceed, and I urge Dublin City Councillors to vote against it.”
Thomas Byrne, Irish Minister of State for European Affairs and Defense, called Herzog on X “one of the most influential Irish-born leaders on the world stage ever,” and urged the city council not to proceed with the proposal.
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The issue is coming to a vote after in June 2024, a proposal was submitted to rename the park in honor of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl “killed by the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) on January 29th, 2024, along with six of her relatives,” according to the motion.
People Before Profit councillor, Conor Reddy, in January 2025, mentioned that over 2,700 people supported renaming Herzog Park as “Hind Rajab Park.”
In light of regulations instated in 2017, mandating the park be renamed after someone who had died less than 20 years previously or born over 100 years ago, Rajab’s name is not a contender. However, other names which have reportedly been suggested include: “Free Palestine Park,” “Gaza Park” or “Palestine Park.”
The office of President Isaac Herzog responded to the reports on the proposed removal, saying that the move would be a “shameful and disgraceful” one.
The Israeli president’s office said that naming the park after former president Herzog in 1995 “expressed appreciation for his legacy and the deep friendship between the Irish and Jewish peoples,” and that “unfortunately, this relationship has deteriorated in recent years, yet we still hope for the recovery of these important ties.”
Michael Herzog, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States and son of Chaim Herzog, said on X, “So painful to see how Ireland, once home to a proud, thriving Jewish community, has become the scene of raging antisemitism. Ireland is now one of the most virulent anti-Israel countries in Europe.”
The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland responded to the motion on Saturday, calling it a “gross act of antisemitism.”
“Herzog Park sits at the heart of the neighborhood, where much of Ireland’s small Jewish Community has lived for generations. It stands beside the only Jewish school in the country. The name of the park is not an abstract tribute. It reflects a real and meaningful Irish story,” the council said.
Calling on the Dublin City Council to reject the motion, the Jewish representatives wrote that the removal of Herzog’s name “would be widely understood as an attempt to erase our Irish Jewish history.”
In response to the motion, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described Dublin as “the capital of antisemitism,” adding that despite the decision to remove the name, “What cannot be removed is the disgrace of the Irish antisemitic and anti-Israel obsession.”
“There is no decision more accurate and just than my decision to close our embassy in Dublin,” the foreign minister added.
There is no decision more accurate and just than my decision to close our embassy in Dublin, shortly after I took office as Foreign Minister.
Dublin has become the capital of antisemitism in the world.
The Irish antisemitic and anti-Israeli obsession is sickening.
The Dublin
Current Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder told the Irish Times that Herzog was “affectionately known as the ‘Sinn Féin Rabbi,'” an Irish independence slogan meaning “we ourselves,” during his period at the head of the community.
The “Jewish story in Ireland deserves to be preserved, not whitewashed or erased,” Wieder said.
Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin John Stephens said he “welcomed” the motion discussion and believes it is “only right that there should be an open and transparent discussion,” according to the Irish Times.
Stephens’ party colleague Rory Hogan added his support for the name change, saying it would “reflect how awful the genocide is of the Palestinian people,” adding, “The current name is not appropriate,” the Irish Times reported.
Emma Blain, a former lord mayor of Dublin and Fine Gael councillor, told the Irish Times that she will not be supporting the motion, adding that many members of the Jewish community living in the Rathgar area have contacted her over antisemitic comments they have been recently receiving.
In December 2024, Israel announced that it would shut down its embassy in Dublin due to “extreme anti-Israel policies,” following Ireland’s decision to join the petition against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
