Dublin councilors have halted plans to rename a park currently honoring a past Israeli president that had drawn criticism from the Irish and Israeli governments, the city council says.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who has led the country to new heights of antisemitism since Hamas’s October 7 massacre in Israel, issued a statement in opposition to the vote of the Dublin city council to remove the name of “Herzog Park”, called after Israel’s sixth President Chaim Herzog, and rename it “Free Palestine Park.”

“The proposal to rename Herzog Park should be withdrawn in its entirety and not proceeded with,”the statement said.

“The proposal would erase the distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life of the Jewish communities over many decades, including active participation in the Irish War of Independence and the emerging State. The proposal is a denial of our history and will without any doubt be seen as antisemitic.”

“It is overtly divisive and wrong. Our Irish Jewish communities’ contribution to our country’s evolution in its many forms should always be cherished and generously acknowledged. This motion must be withdrawn, and I ask all on Dublin City Council to seriously reflect on the implications of this move.”

Martin is best known to YWN readers for referring to an Irish-Israeli hostage who was released from captivity in Gaza as a “child who was lost and was now found.”

As Jewish-Irish social media influencer Rachel Moiselle wrote, “A portion of the Irish commentariat are speaking out about this Dublin City Council decision not because they care even a tiny bit about the Irish Jewish community, but because they are intelligent enough to know that this particular act of hostility went too far to be positioned as morally righteous.”

“They care about Ireland’s reputation, nothing more.”

Moiselle launched a campaign called “Hands Off Herzog Park,” which is now second place on the “trending in Ireland” X list.

Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simon Harris previously expressed his opposition to the plans of the Dublin city council. “I completely oppose plans to rename Herzog Park,” he wrote. “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. I agree with the statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee.”

Ireland, which has always been hostile to Israel, increased its hostility to unprecedented heights since October 7, joining South Africa’s absurd claim against Israel at the Hague, recognizing a Palestinian state as a reward for terrorism, and urging the EU to rescind its trade agreements with Israel.

This past August, over 50 consultants at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) called on Ireland to stop using medicines manufactured by Israel if “viable alternatives” exist due to Israel’s alleged “genocide.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)