Chaim Herzog: Ireland’s Unwanted Son

Named in honor of the former President of Israel and son of Belfast and Dublin, Chaim Herzog, in 1995 to mark the tri-millennium of Jerusalem, the park has a special place in the hearts of dwindling Jewish Dublin. Due to some backdoor political wrangling on the part of the government parties on the council, the report on renaming Herzog Park has now been withdrawn but a vote may still go ahead…

Sadly, as one friend pointed out to me, this was not the first sinister attempt to erase Herzog’s ties to this land. In 2014, after a series of attacks, a blue plaque from the Ulster History Circle had to be removed from the birthplace of Chaim Herzog in Belfast. The plaque was removed indefinitely out of concern for safety of the local community. It seems there are some elements on this island who wish to make it very clear that Herzog is an unwanted son of Ireland, and that the Herzog dynasty’s legacy in Ireland is one to be forgotten.

There is a cruel irony that the side which falsely accuses the Jewish State of ethnic-cleansing, is very quick to eradicate Jewish history and heritage. What message does this disgusting decision to rename Herzog Park send? That Jewish history has no place in modern, compassionate Ireland? The message is clear, this is a native born son of Ireland whose legacy is being erased because he dared to play his part in reviving and defending a Jewish State in the Middle East. As if to add insult to injury, there are some on the council pushing for the park to be renamed Palestine or Gaza Park – so Herzog out, Hamas in?

Never mind, that in the same city, a statue proudly stands commemorating Nazi collaborator, Sean Russell, who died off the coast of Galway aboard a German U-Boat in 1940 – after having travelled to Nazi Germany seeking German support for an armed insurgency against Northern Ireland. In 2020, the Council was asked to consider removing the statue – which had been spoken at by prominent Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald. To this day, it stands strong on Dublin’s Northside. The contrast could not be clearer: whilst the park of a man who fought the Nazis and liberated concentration camps is renamed, a statue honouring a willing agent of Hitler’s evil stands tall and proud.

Ireland is quick to claim the Kennedys and the O’Neills of this world, but slow to claim the Reagans and the Herzogs. It seems there’s a right sort of Irishman to be honoured, and Herzog isn’t it. The Herzogs are the Israeli equivalent of the Kennedys – Chaim’s father, Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog was the Rabbi in Belfast and Chief Rabbi in Ireland, before going onto become the second Chief Rabbi of Israel. His brother, Yaakov, was a renowned diplomat – who also served the Director General in the offices of Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol. One of Chaim’s sons, Isaac, is the current President of Israel, whilst one of his other children, General Michael Herzog, has just finished up a term as Israeli Ambassador to America. This is a dynasty which we should be proud to lay claim to, but instead we consciously forget out of some warped sense of shame.

The Herzog family are a part of Irish history - this motion is about erasing that history and the heritage of the Jewish community in Ireland which does not receive the approval of the Palestinian/Hamas cause. A dark day indeed - but then again for Jews and Israelis in Ireland, when isn't?