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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Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said earlier on Sunday that the motion to rename Herzog Park should be “withdrawn in its entirety and not proceeded with.”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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US Rejects Israel’s Request to Maintain Sanctions Against Syria
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a Ministerial formation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in Damascus, Syria, March 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
i24 News – US President Donald Trump has rejected an effort by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent the full lifting of US sanctions on Syria, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported Saturday evening.
According to the report, Netanyahu associates contacted members of Trump’s inner circle in an attempt to keep some sanctions in place as leverage for future diplomatic negotiations. The effort was unsuccessful, with Trump’s advisers reportedly opposing any partial approach and favoring a complete removal of the restrictions.
Despite the refusal, two Israeli officials told Kan that the Trump administration promised Israel some form of political or strategic compensation in response to Jerusalem’s concerns.
The report comes as the US Congress recently voted to permanently repeal sanctions imposed on Syria under former president Bashar al-Assad, clearing the way for foreign investment to return to the war-torn country after more than a decade of conflict. Trump had previously suspended the sanctions twice, following pressure from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, key backers of Syria’s new leadership.
Syria is now led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist leader who had strongly advocated for the complete repeal of sanctions. He argued that maintaining sanctions under US law continued to deter international companies from engaging economically with Syria, even after political changes.
The repeal of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, enacted in 2019, was included in the annual US defense bill and passed by a wide margin in the Senate, 77–20, after approval by the House of Representatives. The legislation, named after a Syrian military photographer who documented abuses in Assad’s prisons, had effectively isolated Syria from the global financial system and now awaits Trump’s signature.
On Friday, al-Sharaa addressed the Syrian public to welcome the lifting of sanctions, publicly thanking Trump as well as Saudi, Qatari and Turkish leaders. His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was removed from the US terrorism list in July, as the new Syrian leadership seeks to present a more moderate image and normalize ties with the international community.
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Report: Iran Advances Missile Program, Continued Arms Transfers to Regional Proxies
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Reports indicate that Iran has resumed development of its ballistic missile program while continuing to supply weapons to allied militias across the Middle East.
According to an unnamed US official speaking to Saudi Al-Arabiya, Tehran is using “every possible means” to transfer arms via both land and sea, viewing support for its regional proxies as a top strategic priority.
The official emphasized that the United States is actively working to prevent these shipments, coordinating with regional partners including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq to secure borders and limit arms transfers.
However, challenges persist, particularly in Lebanon, where the army is heavily engaged in efforts to dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the south, leaving border control vulnerable. Iranian shipments reportedly also rely on Lebanese ports, which authorities are struggling to monitor effectively.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the state of the country’s nuclear facilities, confirming that they suffered “serious damage” during June’s 12-day conflict with Israel. Speaking to Russia Today, Araghchi insisted that while the attacks caused physical destruction, Iran’s technical capabilities remain intact.
“Technology cannot be bombed,” he said, adding that Tehran has rebuilt what was damaged and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to its nuclear program and right to uranium enrichment.
Araghchi warned that any attempt to repeat the previous strikes would fail. “If they [Israel] want to repeat the same failed experiment, they will not achieve a better outcome,” he said, signaling Tehran’s determination to restore and continue its nuclear and military programs despite international scrutiny.
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Sa’ar Urges Diaspora Jews to Move to Israel Amid Rising Anti-Semitism
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar speaks next to High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, and EU commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica as they hold a press conference on the day of an EU-Israel Association Council with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
i24 News – Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar delivered a sharply worded address on Sunday evening at a Hanukkah candle-lighting conference in Rishon Lezion, using the gathering to criticize Israel’s opposition leadership and call on Jews abroad to immigrate to Israel amid rising global antisemitism.
The event, attended by around 1,000 activists and supporters along with Knesset members and local mayors, marked Sa’ar’s first major public conference since announcing his return to the Likud party.
As he lit the eighth candle of Hanukkah, Sa’ar framed his remarks around national resilience, security, and leadership during wartime.
Addressing Jews in the Diaspora, Sa’ar warned that antisemitism has intensified worldwide and accused many foreign governments of failing to respond decisively. He said Israel had invested significant diplomatic effort over the past year to push back against what he described as a new wave of open antisemitism, including convening an international conference in Jerusalem earlier this year.
“Jews have the right to live safely anywhere,” Saar said, “but history teaches us to recognize danger when we see it.” He appealed directly to Jewish communities in countries including the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, and Belgium, urging them to immigrate to Israel.
Sa’ar described Israel as the only place where Jews can fully ensure their security and identity, calling on families to “come home” to the Jewish state.
Sa’ar also launched a fierce attack on opposition leaders over their conduct during the ongoing war, singling out opposition head Yair Lapid without naming him directly. He accused opposition figures of advocating an end to the conflict on terms favorable to Israel’s enemies, even as the government pursued military operations against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran-backed threats.
According to Sa’ar, while the government was making what he called difficult and historic decisions to weaken Israel’s adversaries, the opposition was promoting what he characterized as surrender-driven policies in exchange for hostage releases. “Either way,” Sa’ar said, “they are unworthy of leadership.”