The naming council in the capital of Ireland decided to change the name of a park that commemorates the sixth president of the State of Israel • Pro-Palestinian organizations in the country are working to change the name to “Free Palestine Park” • The community fears an attempt by institutions to erase Jewish history: “The political system is contaminated with anti-Semitism”
The Dublin City Council decided to remove the name of Haim Herzog, the sixth president of the State of Israel, from a park in the Rathgar neighborhood. The council has not yet chosen a new name, but pro-Palestinian organizations in Ireland are working to change the name to “Free Palestine Park”. The decision led to sharp criticism in the Jewish community, where they attacked: “The council has become completely anti-Semitic.”
The decision was made as mentioned in the Dublin City Council’s Naming Committee, which discussed the issue at a committee meeting held on July 24, 2025. In the report submitted to the council, it was stated that the majority of committee members agreed, with the exception of a single objection, to remove the name “Herzog” from the park, and to open a public process to choose a new name to replace the current name.
Haim Herzog, born in Belfast and raised in Dublin, served as the sixth President of the State of Israel and was the son of Yitzhak Halevi Herzog, the Chief Rabbi of Ireland and the first Rabbi of the State of Israel. The name was given to the park in 2018, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, in a ceremony held in the presence of his family members, including his son, the current president of the State of Israel, Yitzhak Herzog.
In recent years, and even more so since October 7, public opinion in Ireland has tended to the extreme left. Over the past two years, there have been stormy demonstrations in the country against Israel’s moves in Gaza, and in December of last year Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the closing of the embassy in the country. Last month, the far-left woman Catherine Connolly, who called Israel a “terrorist state”, was elected president of Ireland. Although the position of the presidency is considered only symbolic, her election is a direct continuation of the anti-Israel trend in the country.
The move to remove the name comes against the background of activity by pro-Palestinian organizations in Ireland who called for the name to be changed to “Free Palestine Park”. The final decision on the name change requires the vote of the city council, but the Jewish community fears an institutional attempt to erase Jewish history in Ireland.
Rachel Moisel, an influential Jewish-Irish network, criticized the decision in a tweet on Network X and wrote: “Ireland is an institutionally anti-Semitic country. To deny this in the face of such overwhelming evidence is pure stupidity.”
The former Minister of Justice of Ireland, the Jew Alan Shatter, shared Moisel’s post and attacked: “The council is polluted by anti-Semitism. Some of the council members are determined to make Dublin a hostile and inhospitable place for the Jewish community and for Jewish children attending their school in the city.”