After backlash, Dublin drops move to rename Herzog Park

Anti-Israel activists had pushed to rename the park after a slain Gazan girl or as “Free Palestine Park.”

By World Israel News Staff

The city of Dublin is quietly walking back its proposal to rename a park honoring an Irish-born Israeli politician, after the plan sparked widespread outrage.

Herzog Park, located in Dublin’s Rathgar neighborhood, is named after Chaim Herzog, who was born in Belfast and later became Israel’s sixth president. He was the son of Ireland’s first chief rabbi, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, who also served as chief ashkenazi rabbi of Israel.

Chaim Herzog’s son, Isaac Herzog, is currently the president of Israel.

After news broke that Dublin officials were considering renaming the park, Isaac Herzog swiftly condemned the proposal, calling it “shameful and disgraceful.”

The proposed alternative names made clear that the effort was politically charged. Anti-Israel activists were slated to address Dublin’s city council on Monday to advocate for renaming the park “Hind Rajab Park,” after a Gazan girl killed during the Israel-Hamas war, or “Free Palestine Park.”

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin announced in a media statement that the proposal would be “withdrawn in its entirety and not proceeded with.” He added that the effort to rename the park amounted to “a denial of our history and will without any doubt be seen as antisemitic,” calling the potential renaming “overtly divisive and wrong.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Simon Harris backed Martin’s stance in his own statement, saying he “strongly opposes” the renaming.

“It is wrong. We are an inclusive republic. This proposal is offensive to that principle. I urge all party leaders to join me in opposition to this,” Harris said.

Despite the existence of an internal city council document explicitly detailing the renaming plan, Irish authorities claimed the episode was a misunderstanding.

A council official claimed that the controversy stemmed from a “legislative technicality” and an “administrative oversight.”