Memory Under Attack

Tree Honoring Murdered Jew Cut Down in Paris: Macron Promises Justice

French President Macron condemns antisemitic vandalism of memorial tree honoring Ilan Halimi, promises swift justice as authorities launch investigation into the incident.

Lara Sukster Mosheyof

AUG 17, 2025 10:06

2 min read

French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the destruction of a memorial to Ilan Halimi, a young Jewish man murdered in a notorious antisemitic attack nearly two decades ago, calling it “an act of hatred that France will not tolerate.”

Authorities in Épinay-sur-Seine discovered the tree, an olive tree planted 14 years ago to honor Halimi, cut down and discarded in a nearby flowerbed on Thursday morning. The incident has sparked outrage across France and renewed calls to confront antisemitism head-on.

“This is an attempt to kill him a second time,” Macron said in a statement. “All means are being deployed to identify and punish those responsible. The Republic will never compromise with antisemitism.”

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez confirmed that an investigation is underway. Prime Minister François Bayrou also denounced the act, describing it as “rooted in antisemitic hatred” and stressing: “No crime can uproot memory. Fighting the poison of hatred is our duty.”

Halimi’s case remains one of the darkest chapters in recent French history. In 2006, the 23-year-old was lured to an apartment by a female gang member, kidnapped, and tortured for three weeks by the so-called “Barbarian gang.” His captors demanded a ransom of €450,000, targeting Halimi because he was Jewish. He was later found murdered near a railway line. The gang’s leader, Youssouf Fofana, is serving a life sentence.

Thursday’s vandalism is not the first time memorials dedicated to Halimi have been targeted. In 2019, another commemorative tree was chopped down, and in 2017, a plaque in his honor was defaced with antisemitic graffiti.

Macron emphasized that France would continue to honor Halimi’s memory: “We will not forget this child of France who died because he was Jewish.”

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