{"id":206737,"date":"2025-11-29T16:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T16:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/206737\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T16:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T16:09:11","slug":"dublins-herzog-park-set-to-be-denamed-by-city-councillors-over-israel-connections-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/206737\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin\u2019s Herzog Park set to be \u2018denamed\u2019 by city councillors over Israel connections \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The name of a former president of Israel<\/a> is set to be removed from a public park in Rathgar<\/a>, south Dublin<\/a>, on Monday, with Dublin city councillors expected to approve the change.<\/p>\n

Herzog Park was named in 1995 in honour of Belfast-born Chaim Herzog, Israel\u2019s president from 1983 to 1993, who spent his early childhood in Dublin when his father was chief rabbi of Ireland.<\/p>\n

Current Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said Yitzhak Herzog, known sometimes as Isaac Hertzog, was \u201caffectionately known as the \u2018Sinn F\u00e9in Rabbi\u2019\u201d during his period at the head of the community. The \u201cJewish story in Ireland deserves to be preserved, not whitewashed or erased\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

In June of last year, a motion was submitted by Sinn F\u00e9in councillor Kourtney Kenny to rename the park Hind Rajab<\/a> Park \u201cto commemorate a five-year-old girl, Hind, killed by the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) on January 29th, 2024, along with six of her relatives\u201d.<\/p>\n

The motion was not put to councillors. But last December councillors agreed the issue should be referred to the council\u2019s commemorations committee. In January, People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy sought clarification on the naming policy and noted a petition to rename Herzog Park \u201cHind Rajab Park\u201d had at the time secured more than 2,700 signatures.<\/p>\n

In response, council officials referred to the naming policy, adopted in 2017, which stated nominees had to have died at least 20 years previously or have passed the centenary of their birth, whichever was earlier.<\/p>\n

The commemorations committee, which meets privately, last July agreed, with one objection, to recommend to the full council the removal of the Herzog name from the park. It also agreed a consultation process be undertaken to determine an appropriate new name. The recommendations will be put to councillors on Monday night for approval.<\/p>\n

\"HerzogHerzog Park in Rathgar. Photograph: Joe Humphreys <\/p>\n

Labour councillor Dermot Lacey opposed the removal of the name at the commemorations committee. \u201cI have had a consistent policy against denaming and renaming. I worry about it as a precedent, because where do you stop? Our history is our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasised this stance did not relate to his position on Israel\u2019s war in Gaza<\/a>. \u201cI accept that it is a genocide, I believe the behaviour of the Israeli government is disgraceful, disgusting and unacceptable.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0UN inquiry finds Israel has committed genocide in GazaOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Chief Rabbi Wieder said Herzog Park was \u201cmore than a name on a sign. For those who live nearby, and especially for the neighbouring Jewish families and schools, it\u2019s a place filled with memory, and an important reminder that our community has deep roots in Dublin\u201d.<\/p>\n

Naming the park in honour of Chaim Herzog was \u201ca recognition not just of one man, but a chapter of shared Irish-Jewish history. That history has not changed, and it cannot be undone by motions or votes. The Jewish story in Ireland deserves to be preserved, not whitewashed or erased.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaim Herzog was \u201ca local boy\u201d who never lost his connection to Ireland and was received with \u201cgreat warmth\u201d when he visited as president of Israel, Rabbi Wieder said. \u201cThe country took great pride in the fact that he was the only visiting head of state who spoke fluent Irish.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father had \u201cembodied the bond between Irish and Jewish identity. A close friend of \u00c9amon de Valera and a passionate supporter of Irish nationalism, he was affectionately known as the \u2018Sinn F\u00e9in Rabbi\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChaimChaim Herzog inspecting a guard of honour at Dublin Airport in 1985 during a visit as president of Israel. Photograph: Pat Langan <\/p>\n

Born in Ireland in 1918, Chaim Herzog emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1935. He joined the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group, before later serving in the second World War in the British army.<\/p>\n

He fought in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and laid the foundations for Israel\u2019s military intelligence apparatus in the wake of the state\u2019s creation. He was elected sixth president of Israel in 1983, and re-elected unopposed in 1988.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Belfast man who became president of IsraelOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

His son Isaac Herzog<\/a>, who was born in Tel Aviv, is the current president of Israel.<\/p>\n

Neale Richmond, a Fine Gael Minister of State, said in a social media post that denaming the park would be \u201cvery regrettable\u201d. <\/p>\n

Emma Blain, a former lord mayor of Dublin and Fine Gael councillor, said she will not be supporting the motion.<\/p>\n

Ms Blain said she did not consider the council meeting to be the place to \u201cmake a statement on the name of the park\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis move is very upsetting to the Jewish community, many of whom live in the Rathgar area,\u201d she said. \u201cMany of them have been in contact with me and they have been facing a lot of anti-Semitic comments. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Herzog family have very strong and valued links to Dublin. It is really hurtful and not an appropriate way to address this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Herzog recalls Irish-born father\u2019s role in liberating Nazi death campsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin and Fianna F\u00e1il councillor John Stephens said he \u201cwelcomed\u201d the matter being on the monthly agenda on Monday night and believes it is \u201conly right that there should be an open and transparent discussion\u201d about the renaming of the park.<\/p>\n

Party colleague Rory Hogan outlined that he is \u201csupportive of a name change\u201d in the context of the situation in Gaza. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe name change would reflect how awful the genocide is of the Palestinian people,\u201d he said. \u201cThe current name is not appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IsaacIsaac Herzog, pictured with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, is the son of Chaim Herzog and the current president of Israel. Photograph: Amir Cohen\/AFP <\/p>\n

The proposal to dename the park has drawn criticism, including suggestions of anti-Semitism on social media.<\/p>\n

Mr Reddy said: \u201cI don\u2019t buy for a second this idea that this is anti-Semitic. It\u2019s actually anti-Semitic to equate Zionism and Judaism.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ed Abrahamson: A McCarthyite fervour has overtaken Ireland where Israel is concernedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It was, he said, \u201ccompletely legitimate after what\u2019s happened in Gaza to dename a park that was named in honour of a man who was part of the foundation of a state that was built on ethnic cleansing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of suggestions had been put forward for a new name for the park, he said, including Palestine Park, Gaza Park and Max Levitas Park after the Jewish communist and anti-racist activist who was originally from Dublin.<\/p>\n

Independent councillor Cieran Perry, who supports the denaming, said it is hoped that the park will be renamed Palestine or Gaza Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to have a physical consultation with those living in the area but that could not happen. This is a small symbolic action to highlight the genocide in Gaza and having the discussion on Monday is a good opportunity to make that point that I disagree with the formalisation of colonies over there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The name of a former president of Israel is set to be removed from a public park in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,52,18,13,14,4771,553,3761,6,19,17,71,3857,11,12,15,16,5,72,27171,56871,47,7,8,47651],"class_list":{"0":"post-206737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-dublin","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-fianna-fail","15":"tag-fine-gael","16":"tag-gaza-strip","17":"tag-headlines","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-israel","21":"tag-israel-hamas-conflict","22":"tag-latest-news","23":"tag-latestnews","24":"tag-main-news","25":"tag-mainnews","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-palestine","28":"tag-people-before-profit-solidarity-pbps","29":"tag-rathgar","30":"tag-sinn-fein","31":"tag-top-stories","32":"tag-topstories","33":"tag-yitzhak-herzog"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115633859651899876","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}