Ireland’s Government Surprisingly Rejects Dublin Plan to Rename Herzog Park ‘Free Palestine Park’

The Dublin City Council will vote on Monday on whether to remove former Israeli president Chaim Herzog’s name from a south Dublin park and rename it “Free Palestine Park.” The move has triggered an uncharacteristic clash between the Irish government and the city’s leadership, given Ireland’s typically anti-Israel stance.

The dispute has become a major flashpoint between Dublin, Jerusalem, and Ireland’s Jewish community. A motion linked to the park’s naming was first raised at the South East Area Committee in December 2024, when a councillor requested a report on how the park had originally been named. In July, the council’s Commemorations and Naming Committee agreed to recommend removing the Herzog name, with one objection. 

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee urged councillors to reject the change. “The government has openly criticized the policies and actions of the Israeli government in Gaza and the West Bank, and rightly so,” she said. “But renaming a park in Dublin in this way, removing the name of an Irish Jewish man, is not connected to that and has no place in our republic. In my opinion, this renaming should not proceed, and I call on members of Dublin City Council to vote against it.” She stressed that Herzog was born in Belfast, grew up in Dublin, and was the son of Ireland’s chief rabbi. “He is an important figure for many people, especially members of Ireland’s Jewish community,” she said.

The Office of the President of Israel Isaac Herzog, Chaim’s son, said it was “following with concern the reports from Ireland regarding the intention to harm the legacy” of Herzog, calling him “a hero of the campaign to liberate Europe from the Nazis” who dedicated his life to “freedom, tolerance, the pursuit of peace, and the fight against antisemitism.” Removing his name, the statement warned, “would be a shameful and disgraceful move.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar tied the controversy to the broader collapse in bilateral ties. “There is no more precise and justified decision than my decision to close our embassy in Dublin,” he said, referring to Israel’s closure last year over what he called “the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government.” Saar added: “Dublin has become the capital of antisemitism in the world. The Irish antisemitic and anti-Israel obsession is pathological.”

Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said removing the Herzog name would erase an essential part of Dublin’s Jewish heritage. Herzog Park, he said, is “more than a name on a sign,” especially for families and Jewish schools in the area. Naming the park for Chaim Herzog was “a 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.”

Herzog, born in 1918, emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1935, joined the Haganah, fought in Israel’s War of Independence, and built the foundations of Israel’s military intelligence. He later served two terms as Israel’s sixth president. The Dublin park was named for him in 1995.