{"id":208526,"date":"2025-11-30T19:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T19:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/208526\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T19:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T19:57:10","slug":"herzog-park-denaming-will-be-seen-as-anti-semitic-says-taoiseach-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/208526\/","title":{"rendered":"Herzog Park denaming \u2018will be seen as anti-Semitic\u2019, says Taoiseach \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A proposal to dename Herzog Park in Dublin<\/a> is \u201cdivisive and wrong\u201d and should be withdrawn, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> has said.<\/p>\n

His remarks came ahead of a meeting of Dublin city councillors scheduled for Monday to discuss the change<\/a> which would see the name of a former president of Israel removed from the public park in Rathgar. While the councillors were set to vote on the plan, with a majority in favour, the vote has been suspended, the council announced on Sunday evening.<\/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

The Taoiseach said on Sunday that the proposal to rename Herzog Park \u201cshould be withdrawn in its entirety and not proceeded with\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said: \u201cThe proposal would erase the distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life of the Jewish communities over many decades, including actual participation in the Irish War of Independence and the emerging State.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the move is \u201ca denial of our history and will without any doubt be seen as anti-Semitic\u201d, adding: \u201cIt is overtly divisive and wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Plans to remove name of former Israeli president from Dublin park suspendedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"TheThe entrance to Herzog Park and Rathgar Tennis Club. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

The council\u2019s commemorations committee 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 were to be put to councillors on Monday night for approval before an intervention by council chief executive Richard Shakespeare on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n

He said he was proposing to withdraw the item from Monday\u2019s agenda and refer it back to the commemorations committee, because the correct legislative procedures had not been followed.<\/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 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

Another son, Yitzhak Herzog<\/a>, is the current president of Israel.<\/p>\n

Cllr Conor Reddy of People Before Profit, one of the councillors supporting the change, said attempts by Government figures and others to portray the proposed renaming as an anti-Semitic act, was \u201can insult to Jewish people, to Palestinians, and to the basic principles of historical truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Chiam Herzog was \u201cdirectly involved in military campaigns that forcibly emptied Palestinian towns and villages, including Latrun, where over 10,000 inhabitants were expelled and its villages razed\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the plan has drawn widespread criticism in Ireland and abroad.<\/p>\n

Current Chief Rabbi of Ireland Yoni 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

One of Chaim Herzog\u2019s sons, Michael Herzog, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, posted on X: \u201cIt is sad to see how the fact that one of Ireland\u2019s prominent Jewish figures became president of the State of Israel, turned from being a source of pride to Dublin to being a source of denial.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cChaim Herzog, my late father, grew up in Dublin and fought the Nazis in WW2 as an officer in the British Army. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis father, Rabbi Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland and a strong supporter of Irish nationalism. <\/p>\n

He claimed Ireland has become a \u201cscene of raging anti-Semitism\u201d and said this was \u201cpainful to see\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Israel'sIsrael’s former ambassador to the US Michael Herzog (left) welcomes then US secretary of state Antony Blinken to Tel Aviv in 2023. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin\/AFP <\/p>\n

A statement from the Office of the Israeli President said it was \u201cfollowing with concern\u201d the reports of the move.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond being an Israeli leader, Chaim Herzog was also a hero of the campaign to liberate Europe from the Nazis and a figure who dedicated his life to establishing the values of freedom, tolerance, the pursuit of peace, and the fight against anti-Semitism,\u201d the statement on X said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemoving the Herzog name, if it happens, would be a shameful and disgraceful move. We hope that the legacy of a figure at the forefront of establishing the relations between Israel and Ireland, and the fight against anti-Semitism and tyranny, will still get the respect it deserves today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, shared the post from the Israeli president\u2019s office on X and commented: \u201cWhat an incredible insult to the Herzog family whose roots are deep in Ireland. Let\u2019s hope decent Irish people stop this madness!\u201d<\/p>\n

In the US, Republican senator Lindsey Graham also shared the post and wrote: \u201cWhen you think it couldn\u2019t get any worse in Ireland regarding animosity toward Israel and the Jewish people, it just did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Then-presidentThen-president of Israel Chaim Herzog inspecting a guard of honour at Dublin Airport in June, 1984. Photograph: Pat Langan\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris said in a social media post: \u201cI completely oppose plans to rename Herzog Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is wrong. We are an inclusive Republic. This proposal is offensive to that principle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge all party leaders to join me in opposition to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan, who represents the constituency where the park is, said renaming the park would be unfair to Chaim Herzog and Irish Jews.<\/p>\n

He said Mr Herzog opened the Irish Jewish museum in Portobello in 1985. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Rathgar park was named after him 30 years ago to acknowledge his connection with Ireland and the important role played by Jewish people in Dublin\u2019s history. <\/p>\n

\u201cRenaming the park because of the slaughter in Gaza is unfair to him and unfairly suggests Irish Jews are responsible for the appalling actions of the current Israeli government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposal to dename Herzog Park in Dublin is \u201cdivisive and wrong\u201d and should be withdrawn, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,52,18,13,14,6,19,17,71,11,12,15,16,5765,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-208526","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-headlines","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-israel","18":"tag-latest-news","19":"tag-latestnews","20":"tag-main-news","21":"tag-mainnews","22":"tag-micheal-martin","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115640417992264144","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208526","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=208526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}