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Dublin City Council Withdraws Proposal to Rename Park Honoring Former Israeli President Chaim Herzog
A plaque on a stone reads ‘Herzog Park’ commemorating Chaim Herzog as the Dublin City Council has prepared a motion to rename ‘Herzog Park’ to ‘Hind Rajab Park,’ Nov. 30, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
The city council in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday withdrew plans to discuss a proposal that would change the name of a park honoring former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, after the body faced heavy criticism from government officials in Ireland, the US, and Israel, as well as from members of Ireland’s Jewish community.
The Dublin City Council was set to vote on Monday on a motion to rename Herzog Park in Rathgar, in south Dublin. The park was named after the Belfast-born and Dublin-raised former president of Israel in 1995. Late Sunday, Dublin City Council Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare said he proposed to withdraw the motion from Monday’s agenda and recommended that the issue should be referred back to the commemorations and naming committee because correct legislative procedures were not followed. He apologized for “administrative oversight.”
Herzog was the son of the chief rabbi of Ireland and was educated at Wesley College in Dublin. He was Israel’s sixth president, from 1983 to 1993, and died in Tel Aviv in 1997. His older son, Michael, recently ended his term as Israeli ambassador to the US, while his younger son, Isaac, is the current president of Israel.
Herzog Park is located in an area that is the center for Jewish life in Dublin, and it is also close to the only Jewish school in the country, Stratford College. The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland (JRCI) has its home base in Herzog House, which is located next to the park and Jewish school.
In June, a motion was submitted by Sinn Féin councillor Kourtney Kenny to rename the park Hind Rajab Park to commemorate a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was trapped in a car that had allegedly come under fire by Israeli military forces in the Gaza Strip in January 2024 and was later found dead. Israel claimed its military troops were not in the area at the time.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said earlier on Sunday that the motion to rename Herzog Park should be “withdrawn in its entirety and not proceeded with.” He also called the proposal “a denial of our history … and will without any doubt be seen as antisemitic.”
“The proposal would erase the distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life of the Jewish community over many decades, including actual participation in the Irish War of Independence and the emerging State,” he explained. “It is overtly divisive and wrong. Our Irish Jewish community’s contribution to our country’s evolution in its many forms should always be cherished and generously acknowledged.” The prime minister added that the “motion must be withdrawn and I will ask Dublin City Council to seriously reflect on the implications of this move.”
Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simon Harris called the proposal “wrong” and “offensive” in a statement on X. Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said removing Herzog’s name from the park would be “a shameful erasure of Irish-Jewish history and would send a painful message of isolation to a minority already experiencing rising hostilities.”
The proposal was additionally condemned by Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee; US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, US Sen. Lindsey Graham, Ireland’s former Minister of Justice Alan Shatter, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, JRCI Chairman Maurice Cohen, the European Jewish Congress, and several others. Herzog’s son and Israel’s current president, Isaac Herzog, said renaming the park would be “a shameful and disgraceful move.”
The backlash came amid deteriorating Irish-Israeli relations.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.
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Iran Prepares Counterproposal as Trump Weighs Strikes
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with members of the media on board Air Force One en route to Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., January 31, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days following nuclear talks with the United States this week, while US President Donald Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.
Two US officials told Reuters that US military planning on Iran had reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing leadership change in Tehran, if ordered by Trump.
Trump on Thursday gave Tehran a deadline of 10 to 15 days to make a deal to resolve their longstanding nuclear dispute or face “really bad things” amid a US military buildup in the Middle East that has fueled fears of a wider war.
THREATS OF ATTACK FOLLOW CRACKDOWN ON MASS PROTESTS
Asked on Friday if he was considering a limited strike to pressure Iran into a deal, Trump told reporters at the White House: “I guess I can say I am considering” it. Asked later about Iran at a White House press conference, Trump added: “They better negotiate a fair deal.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said after indirect discussions in Geneva this week with Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner that the sides had reached an understanding on main “guiding principles,” but that did not mean a deal was imminent.
Araqchi, in an interview on MS NOW, said he had a draft counterproposal that could be ready in the next two or three days for top Iranian officials to review, with more U.S.-Iran talks possible in a week or so.
Military action would complicate efforts to reach a deal, he added.
After the US and Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities and some military sites in June, Trump again began threatening strikes in January as Tehran crushed widespread protests with deadly force.
Referring to the crackdown on Friday, Trump said there was a difference between the people of Iran and the country’s leadership. He asserted that “32,000 people were killed over a relatively short period of time,” figures that could not immediately be verified.
“It’s a very, very, very sad situation,” Trump said, adding that his threats to strike Iran had led the leadership to abandon plans for mass hangings two weeks ago.
“They were going to hang 837 people. And I gave them the word, if you hang one person, even one person, that you’re going to be hit right then and there,” he said.
The US-based group HRANA, which monitors the human rights situation in Iran, has recorded 7,114 verified deaths and says it has another 11,700 under review.
Hours after Trump’s statements on the death toll, Araqchi said that the Iranian government has already published a “comprehensive list” of all 3,117 killed in the unrest.
“If anyone doubts the accuracy of our data, please speak with evidence,” he posted on X.
ARAQCHI SAYS DEAL POSSIBLE IN ‘VERY SHORT PERIOD’
Araqchi gave no specific timing as to when Iranians would get their counterproposal to Witkoff and Kushner, but said he believed a diplomatic deal was within reach and could be achieved “in a very short period of time.”
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reiterated concerns about heightened rhetoric and increased military activities in the region.
“We encourage both the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue to engage in diplomacy in order to settle the differences,” Dujarric told a regular news briefing at the U.N.
During the Geneva talks, the United States did not seek zero uranium enrichment and Iran did not offer to suspend enrichment, Araqchi told MS NOW, a US cable television news network.
“What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever,” he said.
He added that technical and political “confidence-building measures” would be enacted to ensure the program would remain peaceful in exchange for action on sanctions, but he gave no further details.
“The president has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them, and that they cannot enrich uranium,” the White House said when asked about Araqchi’s comments.