The stele and the trunk of the olive tree, presumably cut down with a chainsaw, which was planted in 2011 in front of a memorial to Ilan Halimi in Epinay-sur-Seine, on the outskirst of Paris, on August 15, 2025. DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP
The cutting down of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 stirred outrage in France on Friday, August 15, with President Emmanuel Macron vowing punishment over an act of antisemitic “hatred.” An olive tree, planted in 2011 in the victim’s memory, was felled, probably with a chainsaw, on Wednesday night in the northern Paris suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine. The incident stoked fresh concerns about an increase in antisemitic acts and hate crimes in France as international tensions mount over Gaza.
Politicians across the political spectrum condemned the act as an attack against the memory of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped by a gang of around 20 youths in January 2006 and tortured in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found three weeks later, the 23-year-old died on the way to hospital.
In 2006, Halimi’s kidnapping and murder stirred debate about antisemitism in France after police initially refused to consider it a hate crime, with tens of thousands taking to the street to demand justice.
Read more Subscribers only Tolerance holding up in France despite hate speech, report on racism finds
‘No crime can eradicate memory’
“Cutting down the tree in honor of Ilan Halimi is tantamount to killing him a second time,” Macron said on X. “Every effort will be made to punish this act of hatred,” he said, adding that the country will not forget the “son of France who died because he was Jewish.”
“The tree for Ilan Halimi, a living bulwark against oblivion, has been cut down by antisemitic hatred,” said French PM François Bayrou on X. “No crime can eradicate memory. The never-ending fight against the deadly poison of hatred is our primary duty,” he added.
Herve Chevreau, the mayor of Epinay-sur-Seine, said on Thursday he had filed a complaint.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez condemned what he called a “despicable” act. “An investigation has been launched. Everything will be done to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” Nunez said on X.
Read more Subscribers only Since October 7, more Jewish families in the Paris region ‘want to move to a place they perceive as safer’
“It is not just a tree that has been cut down, it is a hope that has been sabotaged,” France’s chief rabbi Haim Korsia said before praying in front of the memorial with other members of the Jewish community.
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Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), said the felling of the tree was “extremely painful.” “There is nothing more cowardly, and those who have murdered his memory are no better than those who took his life 20 years ago,” Arfi told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “This is not just another antisemitic act, it is a way for antisemites to shout that they are here more than ever.”
More reported acts of antisemitism since 2023
Jewish groups in France have said that the number of antisemitic acts has surged following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip and aid blockade.
Read more Subscribers only ‘Uniting the fights against racism and anti-Semitism is essential to countering their manipulation’
Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.
